Dr Manir Maniruzzaman, a Principal Scientific Officer at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, took advantage of the opportunity to attend the Irrigation Australia Conference (IAL) in Sydney, Australia on 13-15 June to present on the DSI4MTF team’s project work. More than 80 local and international speakers presented on different topics related to advanced irrigation and agriculture, turf and landscape, key national areas, future planning and international matters, rainwater harvesting, and energy-efficient irrigation systems, with the goal of advancing the state of knowledge within the sector. Side events showcased solutions across the entire irrigation value chain, with more than 165 exhibitors from the agriculture, horticulture, viticulture, parks and gardens, landscaping, and water lifting and distribution sectors, displaying the latest irrigation technology, products, and services.
Manir presenting on improving water productivity in Bangladesh
Dr Maniruzzaman presented the paper titled, “Water Productivity Improvement in North West Regions of Bangladesh,”in the ‘International Matters’ session of the second day of the conference. He explained that how the Bangladesh irrigation sector is developed will be critical to sustaining the crop production. The north-west region, in particular, is facing water scarcity during the dry period, requiring improvements in water productivity. Dr Maniruzzaman also had the opportunity to meet other delegates and learn about varying experiences concerning autonomous irrigation system and crop production, knowledge that he will take with him back to Bangladesh.
His travel also included project meetings in Brisbane and Toowoomba, where he had an opportunity to spend an afternoon at Farmfest, a large farming and agriculture field day held once per year on the outskirts of Toowoomba. Here he was able to see up-close some of the large-scale irrigation systems and machinery used in Australian cropping systems, noting, “I have never seen such large and diversified irrigation and farm equipment before. Besides the big size of bullocks, the horses and cows were also very attractive.”
The national conference is held every 2 years, and the next one will coincide with the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) congress in September 2020, where the DSI project will be presenting more of the project findings.
Visiting FarmFest
Visiting the IAL Exhibits
