German multinational company Bayer has come forward to extend its cooperation in the digital farming, use of technology in agriculture, and crop protection to farmers in the State.
Company representatives met Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at the Secretariat on Wednesday. They presented a proposal to bring leading innovation in chemical and biological crop protection with the aid of technology and digital farming.
Mr. Naidu said that the proposed project should focus on small and marginal farmers. “We want technological penetration in agriculture. We also have many systems in place for soil testing, use of drones and CCTV and other aspects of Internet of Things,” he said, adding, “the company can explore Madanapalle for tomato cultivation and Chittoor district for mango cultivation.” Bayer CropScience Limited Vice President – Public and Government Affairs, Rajvi S. Rathi, Head of Region APAC 2 (South Asia) at Bayer CropScience Limited Peter R. Mueller, Chief Marketing Officer Srinath Bala and others were present.
Framework ceremony
KIA Motors India MD Kookhyun Shim called on Mr. Naidu to invite him to a framework installation ceremony of the KIA plant at the project site on February 22. The ceremony will be attended by villagers who have parted with their land for the project at Penukonda in Anantapur district. It will be followed by a public meeting at which the Chief Minister and other Ministers will speak.
Mr. Naidu said he would like to see the first car soon.
