Natural farming is key focus for the administration: CM

 Kuppam (Chittoor district): Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu visited the ‘Prakriti Vyavasaya Kshetram’ in Seegalapalli of Kuppam mandal on Monday. He inspected stalls set up by the Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sadhi-kara Samstha (APRySS) that showcased health and nutrition-related topics, underscoring the importance of natural farming practices.

Agriculture department special chief secretary Rajasekhar and RySS executive vice-chairman Vijay Kumar briefed the Chief Minister on the initiatives being implemented as part of natural farming. Farmer Krishna Murthy and his family provided insights into their cultivation of di-verse crops such as chili, brinjal, tomato, turmeric and drumstick on their three-acre farm, employing natural farming techniques to grow 25 different types of crops.

During an interactive session with farmers, the Chief Minister attentively listened to their ex-periences and assured them of the government’s commitment to expanding natural farming. He emphasised that natural farming would be a key focus for the administration, with measures to ensure its widespread adoption in the coming years.

As part of the event, the RySS signed an MoU with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to enhance the marketing and promotion of natural farming products. The collabora-tion aims to provide the necessary support to farmers and elevate the reach of their produce.

The Chief Minister launched the ‘Kuppam Natural Farming Vision 2029’ outlining a roadmap for transforming the constituency into a model region with complete adoption of natural farm-ing within five years. He highlighted the extensive research conducted, including discussions with agricultural experts like Subhash Palekar and stressed the importance of reviving tradi-tional scientific practices.

Addressing the gathering, Chandrababu Naidu expressed pride in the farmers’ efforts to priori-tise health through natural farming. He encouraged the use of advanced technology provided by RYSS to deliver essential services to farmers and called for better coordination with MARK-FED to improve marketing opportunities for natural produce.

Agriculture department director Delhi Rao, NDDB chairman Dr Meenesha, Chittoor MP D Pra-sad Rao, CM’s secretary PS Pradyumna, government whip and MLC Dr Kancharla Srikanth, dis-trict collector K Sumit Kumar and others were present.