Andhra Pradesh: Call to bring technology in farming for big gain

Visakhapatnam: The soil health card scheme has reduced the consumption of urea in India at least by 12 per cent. Infusing technology into agricultural practices and leveraging information on a real-time basis would improve yield and help farmers in multiple ways, said Union minister of state for agriculture and farmers’ welfare Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on the second day of the AP AgTech Summit 2017.

Andhra Pradesh is one of the biggest consumers of fertilisers. The Union minister hailed the AP Chief Minister for transforming Andhra Pradesh into an IT hub in his earlier stint and for infusing IT into agriculture in his ongoing tenure. He said Andhra Pradesh stands first in India in the production of seafood and fisheries and in growing mangoes, turmeric, chillies and tomatoes. According to him, only 10 per cent of agricultural produce is exported from India. He insisted that  there is an urgent need to boost agricultural exports.

He called upon farmers from Andhra Pradesh and other states to go in for crop diversification that could help boost the overall output. He also said the post-harvest losses in the country should be drastically reduced. He advised farmers to undertake cultivation of high-value crops and felt that state governments should give them the necessary technical and financial support.

“Farmers should be turned towards remunerative activity,” he said, adding that otherwise there will be a large-scale migration from rural are-as to urban areas in sear-ch of alternate sources of income causing a huge problem. “We are trying our best to attract educated youths to become agri-entrepreneurs through various schemes. Farming should be taken by youth, as they would any other mainstream career options,” he added.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said Andhra Pradesh has been  focusing on improving bo-th the pre-harvesting and post-harvesting facilities. It is also improving agricultural infrastructure in the state, to ensure better prices for farmers. "Organic cultivation’ is also being encouraged and modern technologies leveraged to make agriculture sustainable,” he added. Andhra Pradesh agricultural minister S. Chan-dra Mohan Reddy, human resources development minister, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha members K. Haribabu and Anakapalli Lok Sabha member M. Srinivasa Rao were also present and spoke on the occasion.