DEPARTMENT OF AGROMETEOROLOGY

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

The University

The Gazipur Agricultural University (GAU) was established as Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University in 1998 (Act No. 16 of 1998). On 12 February, 2025 it was renamed as Gazipur Agricultural University through Ordinance promulgated by the Honorable President of Bangladesh. Initially it was established as Bangladesh College of Agricultural Sciences in 1983 Subsequently the college was renamed as Institute of Postgraduate Studies in Agriculture (IPSA) 1994 (Act No. 1 of 1994) through the tripartite collaboration and co-operation of the Governments of Bangladesh, Japan and USA. The university is located at Salna, Gazipur about 10 km north-west of the Gazipur district headquarters and about 40 km north of Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh.

The university is committed to the policy of providing educational opportunities in the field of agriculture to all eligible students regardless of their economic or social status, and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, creed, age, marital status or national origin.

The Department of Agrometeorology

Vision:

Contribute to minimize risks in agricultural production systems through better understanding of meteorological events.

Mission:

Fostering quality education and research in the specialized field of agricultural meteorology.

Objectives:

·       To serve as a center of excellence for postgraduate studies and research in agrometeorology,

·       To facilitate basic and applied research activities for better management of weather risks in agriculture;

·       To provide agro-advisory and policy support in order to ensure food and nutrition security of the country.

Development of the Discipline of Agrometeorology

The department of Agrometeorology is the 15^th department starting in April, 2022 as a collaboration between GAU and the Department of Agricultural Extension through Agrometeorological Information Systems Development Project (AMISDP) financed by the World Bank. The department sprawls over 6000 square feet in the Faculty of Agriculture Building. It has one well equipped classroom, one Agrometeorology Lab, one Computer Lab, a Greenhouse and an Automatic Weather Station. Besides, there are sitting arrangements for faculty members, Head of the Department, and staffs. There is also a Library Cum Reading Room dedicated for the Students.

At present there are 10 faculty members serving in the department as additional duty. MS Programme was started in Winter-2022 Term. The classes started on 29 January, 2023. At present there are 12 students of which 9 are female and 3 male.

Milestone Activities

Faculty members

In order for the academic management of the department, a total of ten faculty members from five relevant major disciplines were appointed by the university. The expertise of the members covers more than five broader aspects of agrometeorological services.

Board of Studies

The department of Agrometeorology has a Board of Studies (BOS) comprising all the faculty members of the department and an external expert-member. The BOS is chaired by the head of the department. The BOS recommends curriculum, major professor and research supervisors for approval and reviews academic programs, course requirements, course offering plan and related matters of the departments.

Academic Management

The Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies coordinates the academic activities of the department including admission at postgraduate level. The Head of the department administers the academic program. There are three terms in an academic year, i.e. Summer, Autumn and Winter Term. Students can get enrolled in any of the mentioned terms.

Facilities:

Physical Facilities

A separate floor of around 6000 sq. ft. has been allocated for the Department having the following facilities:

Office room                            :           10

Conference room                   :           01

Classroom                              :           01

Laboratory room                    :           02

Reading room cum Library     :           01

Service room                          :           01

Store room                             :           01

Toilet block                             :           03

Classrooms

A Classroom has been established and renovated for this department. The classroom is well equipped with modern teaching-aids, internet, and live communication facilities for online classes. The class room size is designed for 40 students.

Conference Room

A full furnished Conference room with a capacity of 50 participants has been established within the Department. The conference room has internet facilities and audiocisual aids and also video conferencing system.

Laboratory Facilities

Computer Lab:

A full furnished Computer Lab with 25 Desktop Computers and Digital Interactive Board has been established to provide support to training workshops. The lab room has internet facilities and audiocisual aids and also video conferencing system.

Research Laboratory:

The department has two specialized laboratories housed at the BS building of BSMRAU. A state of the art computer laboratory for geospatial analysis, and another laboratory containing modern equipment for field experiment were built.

Greenhouse:

A greenhouse sprawling an area of 1200 square ft. was developed for the Department. Specialized growth chambers and experimental compartments equipped with temperature and humidity controlling mechanism. An automatic irrigation and fertigation equipment was also installed for research purpose.

Weather Station:

The department has in its disposal a modern automatic weather station with automatic weather data collection and storage facilities.  Besides, there are also conventional weather observation and recording equipment.

Library

The library is an important organ in support and development of high quality teaching, research and outreach programs. The university library houses a comprehensive and current collection of local and foreign journals relating to the agricultural and social sciences. The library includes more than twenty-two thousand books. In addition to book and journal collection, the library provides an interlibrary loan service and a computerized database of Bangladesh research titles and abstract. At present a total 70 issues of text and reference Books are available for the students and faculty members.

Academic Calendar

The curriculum of the university is based on the course credit system. MS degree from the department of AGM is offered in selected subjects of agricultural disciplines. The curriculum has been designed to improve the quality of education in the field of agricultural meteorology. At beginning of each academic year, detailed calendar of all academic activities is provided to all faculty members and the graduate students.

Admission

Applications are invited from the candidates by announcement of the admission notice in newspapers and/or university website before the beginning of each academic term. Candidates are required to apply in a prescribed form, which is available in academic section or website of the university. A candidate for admission to BSMRAU may give choice for only three departments in order of preference. Selection shall be made on the basis of candidates past academic records and preference. Foreign student may apply for admission at any time. Detail procedures can be found at https://bsmrau.edu.bd/fgds/. Both fresh students and in-service students are welcome to the university. An in-service candidate must submit an evidence of leave/deputation obtained from the employer along with the application for admission.

Scholarships and Fellowships

Merit Scholarship

A few merit scholarships are provided as per university scholarship rules and regulation. After successful completion of first term of admission student may apply for merit scholarship from second term. For merit scholarship students have to apply In due time as mentioned in academic calendar.

General Stipend

The university provides general stipend to the enrolled students from the first term of admission. For general stipend, students have to apply in prescribed form in due time as mentioned in the academic calendar.

Graduate Research Assistantship

Depending on the availability of funds few fellowships and graduate research assistantships (GRA) are also provided, GRAs are part-time research assistant (GRA) to assist in the research programs in the relevant departments. Such appointments are for the period of maximum three terms or less and subject to renewal each term contingent upon academic performance, work performance, and availability of funds. Appointments and renewal must be recommended by the GRA selection committee and approved by the Vice-Chancellor of the University.

Research Activities

The department facilitates research activities covering different aspects of agrometeorology. The on-going MS research projects of the students  are as follows:

·       Impact of cumulative temperature on the phenology and growing degree days of bread wheat

·       Impact of heat stress and drought stress on the productivity of wheat

·       Assessment of agro-edaphic and agro-climatic suitability of minor cereals in Charland Ecosystem

·       Radiation use efficiency of tomato genotypes under drought stress

·       Impact of increasing temperature on rice in the Northwestern region of Bangladesh

·       Evaluation of existing occurrence and advisory systems for Blast disease in rice

·       Rainfall variability and its impact on crop production

·       CO₂ emission from organic matter amended soil in relation to meteorological parameters using tree-based hybrid data mining model

·       Spatio-temporal drought monitoring in the Barind Tract area

Course Review Activities

The Department arranges regular Course Review Meetings and Workshops including both students and faculty members to strengthen the teaching and learning methods.

Training Workshop:

The Department offered several training workshops for both students and faculty members of GAU. The training workshops are as follows:

1.     Application of Remote Sensing and GIS in Agriculture

2.     Data Analyses and Visualization in Agricultural Research with “R”

3.     Application of DSSAT in Agricultural Research

4.     Interactive Learning Workshop on Teaching Methodology for Crop-Weather Relationship

Seminar and Workshop

The Department arranged several seminar and workshops on different aspects related to agrometeorological research and development. The notable ones are:

1.     Application of geo-spatial techniques in agricultural research,

2.     Application of GIS and Remote Sensing in agriculture

3.     Consultation workshop on course curricula for agrometeorology

4.     Satellite based irrigation systems for crop production

5.     Agrometeorological education, research and advisory services in southeast asian countries

6.     Agricultural management in the coastal region in the context of climate change

Field Visits:

The Deprtment arranged study tours and field visits for the students and faculty members to related organization like BMD, SPARRSO, DAE.

Consultation Meeting with farmers at Field Level

The Department arranged consultation meetings with farmers in Cox’s Bazar regarding their agricultural management practices in the context of climate change.

Visit of International Subject Matter Experts

Several International Subject Matter Experst from different countries, e.g. India, Pakistan, Nepal and USA visited the department and also conducted lecture sessions and training workshops for the students and faculty members.