Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan suggested the scientists, policy-makers and the industry to make agriculture innovative and interesting so as to attract youth towards it and sustain them in the field since youth going for agriculture has come down sharply.
In her inaugural address at the two-day regional workshop on ‘Youth as torch-bearers of business-oriented agriculture in south India’ organised by Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) here on Monday, she said she had chosen agriculture as her topic for the forthcoming Governors’ Conference although she was linked to the field of health and medicine, as Telangana has been making huge strides in the sector. The Centre too has been giving a push to the agriculture sector by providing economic assistance and crop insurance.
Minister for Agriculture S. Niranjan Reddy observed that those who pursue education in agriculture would rarely use the knowledge in practising it as 70% to 80% of them look for career in other areas. He explained that the State government had introduced several interventions as such investment support scheme (Rythu Bandhu), group life insurance scheme for farmers below 59 years of age (Rythu Bima), and 24x7 uninterrupted free power supply to farming to make the vocation more remunerative. Stating that the support from the Central and the State government to the agriculture sector, particularly to small farmers, was immense, Director General of ICRISAT Peter Carberry suggested the youth to pursue their career in agriculture as it has a huge potential that includes information technology interventions. He hoped that the workshop would help in south-south cooperation in the agriculture sector.
Founder and executive chairman of CYIENT B.V.R. Mohan Reddy said there would not have been any better timing than the present for entrepreneurship in agriculture, particularly by youth, as the sector was impacted by technology as equally as any other sphere of life. He felt that the 10 trillion economy was possible provided there was large-scale entrepreneurship.
Chairman of Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS) and former Director General of ICAR R.S. Paroda said good income from farming would hold key in sustaining the interest of people in the sector. Vice-Chancellor of PJTSAU V. Praveen Rao also spoke. Later, the Governor inaugurated an exhibition on potential agri enterprises. Vice-Chancellors of several agricultural universities in south India and students are participating in the workshop, which also comprises seven technical sessions and a panel discussion on related topics.
