Construction of Rice ATM Infrastructure in Bangladesh

Construction of Rice ATM Infrastructure in Bangladesh

Introduction:

The main food in Bangladesh is rice. About two-third of total calorie supply and about one-half of the total protein intake of an average person in the country. There are many steps are taken to increase the rice production in Bangladesh since a long time but the rice distribution and marketing system is not improved so much as the contest of rice production. Prices of rice essential commodities declined/increased on the support of market stock gamblers. For this type of reasons the producer of paddy means farmers are not getting fair price for their product on the other hand the consumer are frustrated for the higher price of rice.

Rice is best stored as paddy because the husk provides some protection against insects and helps prevent grain quality deterioration. A safe storage system will prevent the grain from getting wet after drying and also give protection from insects, rodents, and birds.

Grain can be stored in bulk in containers made from wood, metal, or concrete and located under or inside the house. While these storage containers vary in size, they all need to be protected from insect, rodent, and bird attacks as well as moisture uptake.

The value of milled rice in the market is determined by a number of physical and chemical characteristics, and the consumers, which will vary within and within country.

Grain appearance is affected by the amount of chalkiness or white belly. Chalkiness is caused by interruption of the final grain filling.

Why need:

To balance the value chain of rice it’s crying need for Bangladesh. To combat the future situation we will need to consider. Application of superior resource management technologies Mechanization of rice distribution particularly minimization of market cycle losses.

Technical Aspect: 

A storage structure is a repository of farmer’s rice collectively managed and exchanged according to customs and traditions.

For this concept to work, the modality includes introduction through the participatory varietal selection (PVS) process and dissemination of a basket of options to meet varying farmers’ preferences for a modern variety (MV)–farmers’ variety (FV) combination. Many communities combine the conservation of time-treasured traditional varieties that exhibit traits of significant socioeconomic value to farmers (FVs).

With the simple mechanization the rice distribution/selling/marketing can be improved for a sustainable way.

Sealed or hermetic storage systems are an effective means of controlling grain moisture content and insect activity for seed or grain stored in tropical regions. Sealed storage containers come in all shapes and sizes ranging from 50 kg-Super bags, small 25-liter plastic containers, and 200-liter oil drums to costly sealed large plastic or steel commercial storage units of 1–300 tons.

Farmer’s Participation: 

Initially, a set of landed farmers is identified. Farmer’s land is used for demonstration and rice ATM production trials. A designated team can also help farmers with the setting up of the trials. These farmers must be willing to be trained on rice production, rice health management and testing the new varieties/type in their fields to rice ATM as per demand of consumer. Farmers participate in training programs on best rice distribution practices and other topics based on training needs assessment.

Rice Mill Contribution:

Polishing the brown rice to remove the bran layer. Bagging the milled rice; and • Managing the by-products.

Understand the Market:

The community based rice distribution system (CBRDS).

Building a Rice Marketing/Distribution Network: 

Until recently, only about 5% of the rice was supplied from farmers, few amount supplied by government agencies and most supplied by the private agencies/dealer. A more efficient national rice distribution system would have to supply from farmers with timely, adequate quality, modern variety rice at affordable prices. With this in mind, we want to develop a public-private network to ensure a continuous supply of batter quality rice under this rice ATM project.

Government Agency involvement:

The government agency relevant to this formal group setup may require specific structures, documentation, systems, and other details:

 • Set of officers • Constitution and by-laws Establishing community-based seed systems: A training manual • Production system • Rice collection system • Rice distribution/market system • Distribution of profits • Farm production record-keeping system and farmers’ association chosen system of community Rice ATM banking • Other services and requirements

Link to municipal, district, provincial (and the like) programs in agricultural development, particularly in rice production and crop diversification. Participation of other government organizations and NGOs. Production of information, education, and communication (IEC) materials for policymakers and allies at different levels or groups of stakeholders to include policy briefs, brochures, fact sheets, and other briefing materials

Future Vision and Mission:

Scaling up is the vertical movement of experience, knowledge, technologies, impacts, and effects along the ladder or levels of organization of a society.

Controlling Diseases and Pests in Storage:

The growth of fungi, specifically molds, on stored rice causes a decrease in rice quality because of color changes or spoilage of rice. It is important to store rice properly to prevent the growth of these fungi, primarily by avoiding conditions that would promote mold growth.

1. Ensure that the storage area and containers are kept clean to avoid contamination of rice by mold spores.

2. Separate or discard batches of rice that already contain discolored rice.

3. Avoid moisture buildup in and around storage containers and make sure that the stored rice grains have been dried to attain the recommended moisture content.

4. Avoid storing seeds in warm temperatures, since this would also promote mold growth.

The greater the efforts to prevent stored-grain losses, the greater the quantity of higher quality rice available for the people of the rice-consuming countries of the world. Objectives

·         Identify common and important storage insect pests in rice

·         Enumerate ways to manage storage insect pest infestation

·         Describe control and management methods against stored grain pests

Control measures for storage insects:

a. Cleanliness. Good warehouse-keeping practice is the most important, the easiest to do, the lowest in cost, and the most effective pest control measure.

b. Use of chemicals. Spraying, misting, or fogging and fumigation are only supplements for keeping the warehouse clean.

c. Temperature. Proper temperature is probably the most effective means of making long-term storage of rice possible.

d. Moisture. Most stored rice grain insects are unable to survive and reproduce in grain having moisture content below 9%. Sun drying does not reach that low a level.

e. Hermetic control. Airtight or hermetic storage involves storing grain so that it is protected from exchange of gases or liquid with the outside environment.

f. Radiation. This sterilizes or kills insects by damaging cells and producing free radicals that break chemical bonds. Radiation sensitivity is directly related to cell reproductive activity and inversely related to the degree of cell differentiation. Within a developmental stage, the susceptibility of an insect to ionizing radiation varies greatly with age.

g. Biological control. This is the use of natural enemies or beneficial insects for controlling pests of stored products. Several species of beneficial insects are sold that attack the major insect pests in stored grain, including granary weevil, rice weevil, maize weevil, rusty grain beetle, lesser grain borer, confused flour beetle, saw-tooth grain beetle, angoumois grain moth, and Indian meal moth. The bacterial pesticide Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) can be used during grain storage to kill moth caterpillars that hatch after the rice grain is stored. B.t. is effective only against the larval stage of insects in the moth family, such as grain moths and Indian meal moths. Eggs, pupae, and adults are not affected. The product must be ingested by the caterpillar in order to work. B.t. kills caterpillars by damaging their digestive tract over a period of 2 or more days. There are several product formulations of B.t.

Advantages of rice distribution diversification:

1. Stable yield

2. High net returns from crops

3. Assures alternative sources of food

4. Reduces pests and diseases

5. Reduces the use of chemicals for pest control

6. Optimizes the use of resources

7. Sustainability

Constraints to rice distribution diversification

 1. Limited market demand for farm produce

2. Demand degradation

3. Limited availability of technology for chosen crop(s)

4. Climatic changes

5. Inadequate supply of quality seeds and improved cultivars

 6. Poor basic infrastructure (roads, transportation, power)

7. Inadequate postharvest technology and infrastructure

Rice distribution diversification can be used as a strategy for

1. Food and poverty alleviation

2. Meeting nutritional needs

3. Resource management for sustainable agricultural development with infrastructure development

4. Agricultural business planning

5. Employment opportunity in rural areas

6. Relief rice distribution

7. Government work for paid by rice

8. Used in disaster time food grain delivery

For More in formation please contact with Engineers Without Borders Bangladesh. 

Email: ewb.bangladesh@gmail.com, Visit: http://ewb-bangladesh.blogspot.com/ 

For that article some suggestions and thinking is practical oriented and some taken from different published papers.

Major causes of collapse of the mud houses in the flood affected areas.

Major causes of collapse of the mud houses in the flood affected areas. Flood effect on house in Bangladesh, Dinajpur District. Flood on 2017.

Mud houses ( walls constructed in mud)

These types of houses are made with molded earth. Earth lumps are made and stacked to make the wall. Earth is not compacted. When wall has been built, it is trimmed to give better finishing to the wall. Environmental performance of these buildings is very good but these are very vulnerable to floods or rain and earthquake.

Adobe (walls constructed with unfired mud bricks)

Adobe house made with mud blocks is similar to cement concrete block masonry, but blocks are made with mud, dried in sun and used with mud mortar. Wall thickness is generally 12inches. Adobe house made with mud bricks is similar to burnt brick masonry but bricks are not burnt and dried in sun and used with mud mortar. Generally wall thickness is kept 13.5 inches.

Mud bricks performance in shear, tension and compression

The mud bricks are very weak in shear, tension and compression. In case of earthquakes, walls separate at the corners and the shear cracks develop across the wall, causing collapse of the structure. Extensive damage was observed during earthquake especially if it occurs after a rainfall. Blonde and Garcia (2003) developed the design and construction manual for the adobe houses on the basis of 30 years experience at the Catholic University in Peru, which were followed in the reconstruction efforts after Pisco earthquake of 2007.

 Seismic performance of mud houses

Performance of traditional adobe construction during numerous Iranian earthquakes has generally been poor as reported by many researchers after assessing the post earthquake damages. Low material strength, poor workmanship, lack of proper connections between building elements, and the excessive weight of the building owning to thick walls and massive roofs, are some of the shortcomings that led to the general weakness of these buildings under earthquake loads (Maheri et al., 2005).

The performance of various non engineered houses was evaluated in earthquakes in successive earthquakes in Bangladesh. It was reported that mud houses are more vulnerable to earthquake than any other type of traditional house, because of its brittle nature and lack of lateral force resisting system. Some design interventions can improve the seismic performance of the mud houses, which may include wooden bracing at the corner location of the beams, metal straps at connections, placing of roof truss at proper location, blocking of excess opening, use of cement plaster over walls, insertion of new walls etc. (Jehangir et al., 2012). On the basis of field survey after floods in Bangladesh, it was suggested that the mud houses are more suitable for low flood areas particularly. The performance of single family two floor mud houses in Bangladesh located in semi urban and rural areas has been reported vulnerable to seismic forces and lateral pressure of the flood flows (EERI, IAEE, 2007).

Durability of mud blocks

The use of Cactus solution to improve the durability of adobe against the water erosion has also been recommended (Zavoni et al., 1988).The stabilization of adobe with lime depends on the nature of soils used for making the blocks. For rich clay soils, the addition of 2-3 % of quicklime to a soil quickly reduces plasticity by hydration (dries the soil) and breaks up the lumps. For both the clay loam and the sandy soils, the lime content of 2% resulted in a 7-day compressive strength of about 0.7 MPa, but increasing the percentage to 4% resulted in nearly doubling the compressive strength. However further increases in lime content led into no significant increase in compressive strength (Akpokodje, 1985).

In this paper, the major reasons for damages of the mud houses have been analyzed on the and extent of damages in these houses. The data was then tabulated and analyzed and the major causes leading to the collapse and damages of mud houses were documented. Based on the performance of these houses, some recommendations were made for the improvements of mud houses.

Observations:

On the basis of the damage assessment of the 100 sample houses partially and completely damaged, the major causes responsible for the destruction of these houses are as given below:

i.        Undermining of foundations

ii.      Scouring/erosion at the base of the walls

iii.    Scouring/erosion at the corners of structures

iv.      wiping out of structures

v.      Deposition of debris in houses

vi.    Damage due to debris flow.

vii.  Damage due to prolong submersion of buildings in water.

viii.It has been observed that many mud buildings were damaged even water did not touch the floors and due to the capillary rise walls lost strength.

Proposed design and construction improvements for the mud houses in the flood affected areas

Foundation and plinth

The depth of foundation is very important particularly when mud houses are subject to standing water for prolonged period. The following important points must be considered for foundations and plinths of the mud houses.

i.        The depth of foundation may be taken as min 4 feet for soft soil and 2 feet for hard soil. The width of foundation may be taken as twice the width of wall for soft soil and 1.5 times the wall width for hard soil.

ii.      The material to be used in foundation may be stones, fired bricks, solid blocks, dry stone masonry or plum concrete of nominal ratio of (1:3:6) with 40% of stones of total volume, where stones are available.

iii.    The plinth must be raised at least 6in above the high flood level. The Damp Proof Course of heavy polythene and water proof mud. For plinth protection 3 feet wide apron of burnt bricks having 3 in slope outwards may be provided.

 Raising of platform for construction of mud houses

Rising of platform and plinth above ground level will protect the mud houses from the access of water. The following improvements have been suggested (Design hand book, 2010):

i.        The platform must be raised at least 1ft above to regular flood level with compacted earth and extend the edges minimum 3ft away from building footprint.

ii.      The slope of platform may be maintained for sandy soil at 1V to 2H (For each vertical ft height, horizontal width of 2 feet) and for clayey soil; 1V:1.5H.

iii.    The water must be drained away from the building. For control of erosion of platform, deep rooted edge plants, bushes or grass may be grown on edge. Alternatively brick pitching may be provided.

 Walls

Thickness of wall is very important in mud houses. The following design and construction guidelines may be kept in the mind:

i.        For compressed adobe walls, the minimum thickness must be kept as 12in to 13.5 in and the height of the unsupported wall may be restricted to 8 feet and length to 14 feet.

ii.      For molded clay walls the wall thinness at the bottom may be kept as 18 in and the thickness of the wall at the top must be 12 in to increase the stability of the wall.

 Roof band and ring beams at lintel and plinth

i.        The bands may be made of wood, wire mesh, Reinforced Bricks (RB) or Reinforced Concrete (RCC), as feasible at site.

ii.      For wooden lintels, ladder type lintel may be made of 3in x 1.5 in with nails and cross pieces f 2in x 1.5 in @18 in c/c. Similarly wooden bands can be made of single piece of size 4in x 2 in with diagonals at the corners.

iii.    Roof bands must be tied with lintel and lintel bands by nailing diagonal woods at wall face, to provide stability against roof and wind. In case wood is not available, two courses must be provided with burnt masonry.

d.      Earth layer of 6’’ thick is laid over it, forming a slope of 12% towards spout and small amount of water is sprinkled to compact it to 4in and left for 2-3 days.

e.       Mud is prepared by using wheat husk and the roof surface is plastered 1’’ thick.

f.       1.5 ft extended spout is used or vertical drop of cemented spout with 1:3 to drain rain water is provided. For better rendering wire mesh should nails in wall and then plastered.

iii.    For pitched CGI sheets may be used for span up to 16 feet and the following recommendations may be followed:

a.       CGI Sheets 26 SWG gauge are placed at angle 25-35 degree having king post trusses

@5ft c/c and tie beam , rafters 3’’x4’’, king post 3’’x3’’, purlins of 2.5’’x2’’

b.      Longitudinal slope (1:300) should be provided in one side to harvest rain water and Projection up to 1.5 ft.

iv.    For light weight Thatch roof with mud plaster, the following improvements may be followed:

a.       Wooden/Bamboo having ridge beam, 3’’ dia ridge pole, 3’’ dia rafters @ 4 ft may be used. 1.5 in dia-purlin @ 1.5 ft spacing are provided.

Material selection for the mud structures

Selection of appropriate material for the mud construction is an important consideration. The following recommendations were made by the experts:

i.            For molded clay construction, soil with Sand 50-60%, Clay 20-25%, Gravel 20%, and Straw/chaff 5kg/CuM and Water 20% of total volume was recommended.

Soil for adobe and rammed earth may contain sand 40-45%, silt 15-30% and clay 10-25%.

Site selection for mud houses

Most of the mud houses collapsed during the floods 2010 was located in the flood plains. The site selection is of prime considerations in the construction of mud houses. For construction of mud houses, the raised and elevated platforms are more suitable to avoid threat to the buildings. The soil must be well compacted.

There are most experiences person is in with EWB Bangladesh for constructing of mud house  in. Bangladesh.

For More in formation please contact with Engineers Without Borders Bangladesh. 

Email: ewb.bangladesh@gmail.com

For that article some suggestions and thinking is practical oriented and some taken from different published papers.

Participation of EWB Bangladesh on Urban Thinker Campus in Bangladesh

Introduction:

Urbanization generally refers to a process in which an increasing proportion of an entire population lives in cities and surrounding of cities. Bangladesh is one of the fastest urbanizing countries in the world. Since
independence, its urban population has grown at about 6% annually.The
number of urban areas increased five-fold in less than twenty years and is
concentrated in the four largest cities: Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi.

But urbanization does not bring only fortune to our society, it bears some demerits as well. Some of the disadvantages of urbanization are:

1.     Increase of population.

2.     Movement of people from rural to urban areas.

3.     Increase of industries and factories.

4.     Farmers losing their farms.

5.     Cutting down forests.

6.     Global warming.

7.     Distraction in the eco-system.

So UTC (Urban Thinkers Campus) has recently organize a program Where EWB Bangladesh was the participant which is about “The Participatory & People-Centered New Urban Agenda: Voice from the Grassroots”. Despite some disadvantages, a better city for all and for continuing urbanization process a new urban agenda must be bring into front. The last program was about to discuss and come into result for those main points about urbanization.

Brief :

Their main Brief is about Urban migration is largely a result of seeking better educational and employment opportunities, especially in the readymade garments sector. Push factors are also important: While most people migrate for economic reasons, more than 26% do so due to environmental and climate related reasons such as natural disasters, river erosion and recurrent flooding. Many of the migrants are concentrated in urban slums as squatters where they live in poor conditions, with limited access to urban basic services.

Theme:

The theme of the UTC is “Voice from the Grassroots towards CITY for ALL” and the objectives are as follows:

1.     Sharing the New Urban Agenda for better understanding at the local level.

2.     Strengthen the engagement of the urban poor community, local
representatives, and the private sector in implementation of the New Urban
Agenda.

3.     Develop a declaration that lays out an agreed upon strategy for future
courses of action.

 

Roundtable sessions on the ground with poor community leaders and
ward councilors

Our participation program was completed in three levels:
(i) Roundtable sessions on the ground with poor community leaders and
ward councilors

(ii) To get extended coverage and publicity, a session on Meet
the Press

(iii) Two days program main event was held at AUST with parallel sessions;
urban lab, opening and closing session, and final declaration.

The main points of that program were to solve below problems by specific solvent for a better city:

1.     Household worker agency must.

2.     Labour pension must.

3.     Slum people identification as human settlement.

4.     Slum improvement.

5.     Create RMG worker housing by owner.

6.     Slum must be demolished by notice and make a housing for them.

7.     Make a way for poor people housing with micro credit.

8.     Slum capture by housing company.

9.     Slum sanitation must for a better health where toilet must be done with pit or without pit.

Conclusion                                                                                        
The principal outcome is a declaration that outlines future action, by private
sector, local authorities and grassroots women and men. The New Urban Agenda will almost certainly include significant focus on equity in the face of globalization as well as how to ensure the safety and security of everyone who lives in urban areas, of any gender and age.

New Urban Agenda adopted at Habitat III

The United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development has wrapped up in Quito, Ecuador, with delegations adopting the New Urban Agenda – a new framework that that lays out how cities should be planned and managed to best promote sustainable urbanization.

“We have analyzed and discussed the challenges that our cities are facing and have [agreed] on a common roadmap for the 20 years to come,” Joan Clos, Secretary-General of the conference and Executive Director of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), told participants at the closing session.

Urban Inclusive at UTC

Event Title: “The Participatory and People-Centered New Urban Agenda”

WUC Partner Organization Hosting the Campus: Participatory Development Action Program (PDAP) / Coalition for the Urban Poor (CUP)

Venue: Dhaka/Bangladesh/Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST) 141 & 142, Love Rd

 

We are proud to be attain such kind of program and thanks to the all organizer and participants.