Hyderabad: Efforts are on by the Andhra Pradesh government to rope in multi-national companies like PepsiCo to give a boost to agriculture and allied sectors, including horticulture and make it profitable for farmers as well as the state.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said this while releasing the white paper on agriculture sector on Wednesday.
In addition to roping in MNCs, the tech-savvy CM wants to use the latest technology in soil testing, focus on research, use satellite imagery, remote sensing etc.
Later, the CM pointed out that during the Congress rule in undivided AP, as many as 1,943 farmers had committed suicide. He appealed to the farmers not to resort to the extreme
step and promised that the TD government will solve their problems a step at a time.
When asked about the role of MNCs, Mr Naidu said the details would be announced at an appropriate time.
Stating that the waiver of crop loans has provided much needed relief to the farmers, he said loan waiver alone was not the solution to the problems being faced by farmers and the workers in the agriculture sector.
“About 70 per cent of the people are still dependent on agriculture and the government will take all steps to make this sector profitable,” he said.
Without naming Y.S. Jagan, Mr Naidu said, “People are blaming our decision to sell red sanders. But, I will do every legitimate thing to raise revenue and help farmers by repaying their loans. People criticise me. But should I support red sander smugglers?”
