An artificial intelligence (AI)-driven model is devised to monitor prices and supply of essentials and improve supply-chain management through farmer-market connectivity, sources say.
Under the government plan, the Trading Corporation Bangladesh (TCB) has submitted a proposal to the commerce ministry, outlining a strategic framework for "Supply Chain Management and Farmer's Connectivity" leveraging AI technology.
The state trading arm has suggested beginning the model comprising the stakeholders concerned by introducing one digital umbrella.
The proposed system would help relevant agency forecast the prices of edible oils, sugar, rice, fish, onions, eggs, potatoes, pulses, wheat, vegetables, and other essential commodities.
It would identify abnormal price hike because of hoarding, supply deficit, import delay, transportation disruption, and artificial price manipulation.
To bypass intermediary exploitation, the AI model would digitally connect farmers directly with wholesalers, retailers, e-commerce platforms, and government procurement systems.
The proposed tool suggests improving visibility from production zones to wholesale, retail markets, transport, and preservation of such items.
"It would assist the government in making data-driven decisions regarding import timing, stock clearance, inventory management, subsidies, and open-market sales," says one official.
Besides, the self-operating watchdog would provide farmers with real-time market prices, demand forecasting, and crop- planning advice to maximise earnings.
To operationalise the initiative, the TCB has proposed integrating data from different agencies, including the Department of Agricultural Marketing, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the Ministry of Agriculture, customs and import databases, wholesale and retail markets, the Krishok Card database, weather-forecasting agencies, transport and logistics operators, warehousing facilities, e-commerce platforms and international commodity price indices.
The AI model would analyse a range of indicators, including daily commodity prices, production volumes, weather patterns, transportation and fuel costs, freight charges and national storage capacities.
"The essentials markets of the country have been facing price volatility, connection weakness between farmer and market, dependency on middlemen, preservation limitation, unskilled transportation, and weakness of real-time market information," the proposition states.
According to a recent analysis by the think-tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), the supply chains of onions, potatoes, eggplant, eggs, fish, wheat, pulses, sugar, and edible oils have been facing difficulties due to intermediaries, damage caused to crops after harvesting, lack of preservation, transportation and market management and weather-related challenges.
Currently, the TCB sells some key essential items among 7.1 million smart card-holding families at subsidized prices monthly. Through the sales, drive providing relief among the families, including controlling the market prices, says a senior official of TCB who is involved with the issue.
Besides, the government is advancing toward digitisation by initiating farmer card with an eye to distributing subsidy, equipment, loan, insurance, consulting service, as well as weather information, market prices and crop-related info.
"So, the model could be an important scheme for fixing the prices of daily commodities by AI and connecting farmers," adds.
Contacted, an official of the commerce ministry said, "We have recently received the proposal and examining it."
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