INVITATION

We are greatly honoured to cordially invite you to participate in the fifth conference of the Asian Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture (AFITA 2006) to be held from November 9-11, 2006, at the National Science Seminar Complex, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.

Agriculture continues to be the major occupation of Asian communities. In recent years, IT sector is growing exponentially and offers an immense potential for its synergistic effect on the growth of all sectors including agriculture. Rapidly expanding population and dwindling natural resource base in Asia and steady trade liberalization, necessitate harmonious integration of IT and agriculture. The challenge ahead is to explore the opportunities provided by the IT revolution to ensure a vibrant, responsive, sustainable and productive agriculture.

There is an urgent need of not only securing livelihoods of rural and urban poor but also for catering to the regional and global demands both in quantity and quality. Digital divide between not only rich and poor but also between men and women needs to be bridged for harvesting the benefits of IT towards achieving rural prosperity. Future research, development and policies should take into account all these issues. The onus is on the researchers and policy makers to maintain a holistic approach to IT and agriculture rather than looking at them in isolation.

AFITA 2006 provides a platform to dwell on all the issues of vital importance for achieving rural prosperity in all the Asian countries.