FAO nod for cell in AP capital

Hyderabad, Jun 1 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister N Raghuveera Reddy today informed that the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has agreed in-principle to establish a cell here.

Besides, the FAO also agreed to all the proposals of ANGRAU, including establishment of Water Technology Centre and Centre for Gender Studies in Agriculture, he told newsmen at a press conference here.

The FAO had further asked the state government and ANGRAU officials to submit detailed plans for the speedy implementation of the proposals.

The Minister said he undertook a study tour to Egypt, the Netherlands and Italy along with a team of experts.

He claimed the tour was fruitful and beneficial as it will help the state in many ways like strengthening capacity building efforts, saline water management in coastal Andhra Pradesh and nursery management support to farmers.

Referring to Wageningen Agricultural University in The Netherlands, the Minister said the state government would call for a meeting with members representing various political parties and farmers associations to take a decision to upgrade ANGRAU on the lines of world famous University for plant sciences.

The university was known for 'technology commercialisation' without affecting farmers interests. Latest know-how was available for processing of fruits and vegetables and increasing shelf life of fruits under different climatic conditions.

The Netherlands University would collect 'royalty' on the transfer of its technology,he added.

UNI ASJ RL KP1955