Chandrababu Naidu bats for greater India-US cooperation in farm sector

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has said greater co-operation between India and the US would help boost agricultural production and yield promising results for both countries.

The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) in collaboration with the Iowa State University organised a special session on agriculture as part of the World Food Prize meetings this week.

"Agricultural cooperation between the US and India allows the two countries to exchange innovative ideas and promote technical knowledge that has the power to boost agricultural production and yield promising results for both countries," Naidu said at a business round-table meeting organised by the USISPF in Iowa.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss areas where the US industry may be able to work with the Andhra Pradesh government in providing Agricultural Extension services to farmers and to transfer the latest technical knowledge to the farming community, introduction of high yielding varieties, imparting training to farmers to improve skills and knowledge to boost up the agricultural production and productivity.

The meeting was attended by a delegation of the Indian government as well as representatives from John Deere Financials, PepsiCo, US Department of Agriculture, US India Foundation, GrainPro, Pioneer, and the Global Food Banking Network.

The discussion focused around US-India investment and trade opportunities and challenges with members of the Indian government, along with US industry representatives in the agriculture and food sectors.

"There are great opportunities for collaboration between the US and Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh has demonstrated leadership in the Indian food and agriculture industry by leading the way in initiatives such as mega food parks and cold chain development," USISPF president Mukesh Aghi said.

With the aim to start 500 new IT firms in Andhra Pradesh in the next 12 months, Naidu met with representatives from around 80 IT companies from all of US.