Monitor Your Farm From Home

Jahidul Alam Farhad, manager of a dairy farm in Natore, was extremely worried as one of his cows was about to give birth during this chaotic time of coronavirus. However, he was relieved as he had already received an advance warning SMS on his phone from a platform called Surjomukhi Animal Service predicting the delivery time. Therefore, he has arranged a separate and clean space for the cow to give birth more safely. And with the help of Surjomukhi Animal Service on mobile and the expert veterinary team from the local livestock office, he is now able to handle the calf's problems more safely than before.

The recent COVID-19 crisis has severely affected Bangladesh's dairy and livestock industry. We have seen numerous reports of frustrated farmers throwing milk-filled cans into drains due to not getting expected prices. But this is only part of a massive problem. Reduced milk sales are not the only issue in this industry - the easy availability of proper and timely animal healthcare services is also very limited. When livestock animals get sick, farmers don't get access to quality healthcare, making the risky aspect of the industry skyrocket. Among the few initiatives giving farmers hope during this dangerous time, Surjomukhi Animal Service appears to be the brightest.

Surjomukhi Animal Service is a digital platform created for rural areas using IOT (Internet of Things) and RFID technology that provides cattle breed identification and record keeping, genetic development, information storage, breeding, dairy management and primary healthcare services. Livestock insurance is an important part of the platform to keep cattle farmers financially risk-free. Many farmers are now able to face this crisis without any economic risks because this digital platform can establish a unique connection with insurance through its modern identification technology.

The whole process is very simple. A smart bolus device is installed in the animal's stomach which helps identify the animal and monitor its health. This bolus sends information to the central server stored in the cloud using the farm's base station and router. This system enables farmers to monitor the health status of all animals in the entire farm from home, which is a major necessity during this current crisis. The platform uses both SMS and mobile applications to give farmers the ability to take preventive measures in case of sudden illness through advance notification. Through this, a farmer can seek help from Animal Service's specialist veterinary team after receiving any health-related alerts. This helps them combat high-risk causes of livestock mortality through immediate treatment.

Regarding the relevance of new technologies like Animal Service during this complex time, Fida Haque, CEO of Surjomukhi Limited, said: "The crisis we are currently in has changed the definition of the word 'normal' because nothing will be normal in the previous sense. Many more new technologies like Animal Service will have to be invented and launched. Only then will we be able to maintain our accelerated pace in agriculture and food security in new ways."