Kurnool: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday expressed concern for farmers pledging to make them 'prosperous' by revolutionising agriculture in collaboration with Melinda-Bill Gates Foundation.
The chief minister was addressing the public after laying the foundation for the Mega Seed Park at Tangadanche in Jupadu Bungalow Mandal in Nandikotkur Taluk of Kurnool district on Monday.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates will be visiting Visakhapatnam in November to write a code for the farmers.
Asserting that he was a farmer first, Mr Naidu said that the farmers need to be empowered with efficient and useful tools.
The Chief Minister said, “This place is poised to be a seed hub for the country and would become a byword for quality seeds in the world with more than 100 companies operating out of the facility.
Spread over 623 acres and with an outlay of Rs 670 crore and a technical collaboration with Iowa State University and Acharya NG Ranga Agriculture University, Naidu said that this would ‘revolutionise’ the way we know agriculture.
He said that Tangadanche would be transformed into another SriCity where marquee Multi National Companies line up to set shop.
Some of the innovative and best practices would include setting up of Farmer Producers’ Organisations and Water Users’ Associations.
Various initiatives are being taken from seeds to cultivation practices to storage and post-production processes.
He said that the Mega Seed Park would develop high quality, disease resistant and high yielding seeds to benefit not only farmers in AP but also other parts of India and Asia. It will have a centre for excellence and innovation.
The Chief Minister said that Microsoft founder Bill Gates would be visiting Andhra Pradesh in November to take part in a workshop on new technologies in agriculture in Vishakhapatnam.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation would pump in millions of dollars in the agriculture sector in Andhra Pradesh, it is learnt.
Naidu tried to give an impression that the drought hit Rayalaseema was developed by TDP founder NT Rama Rao.
He said the foresight of NTR in taking up projects like Telugu Ganga, Galeru-Nagari and Handri-Neeva are the contributions made by Telugu Desam, he said.
It is to be noted that even the daughter of NTR and now a BJP senior leader Daggubati Purandhareshwari also took the line of NTR’s contribution to Rayalaseema to legitimise their claim over the region.
