Andhra Names Palekar as Advisor on Organic Farming
Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government has appointed noted agriculturist and inventor of Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) Subhash Palekar as an advisor to foster organic farming in the state. Palekar will be responsible for formulating policies and creating a framework to promote organic farming in the state.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu met Palekar and invited him to start a university exclusively for organic farming practices in the Capital city of Amaravati. For this purpose, the government has agreed to allot 100 acres of land and Rs 100 crore as grant. The CM requested Palekar to head the university.
The appointment of Palekar is part of the Andhra government’s initiatives to make agriculture more profitable, reduce input cost and to promote organic farming.
Naidu said that efforts are on to make Andhra Pradesh a fully organic state in the coming years by eliminating the use of fertilizers and harmful chemicals in crop production.