The Hindu Business Line : AP farmers to take up projects abroad

The new State Government, which has put agriculture top on its agenda, is working on an interesting plan aimed at sending the farmers to at least eight African countries to tap huge agricultural opportunities, hitherto unexplored.

According to Mr C.C. Reddy, Chairman of Visu Consultants, Indian farmers had rich expertise in various aspects of farming but not enough resources to put that expertise into use. "On the other hand, Africa has got lakhs of acres of land and irrigation facilities. But what it lacks is expertise that is needed to use those resources," Mr Reddy said.

Mr Reddy, who has been appointed Advisor to State Government on Foreign Investments and Human Resources Placements Abroad, said the Government was preparing a detailed plan to implement this programme in the next couple of years in countries like Uganda, Ghana and Tanzania.

"We will take land there on long lease and facilitate setting up of cooperatives to manage the land," he said.

In the first phase, enterprising farmers who didn't mind exploring the opportunities in the far off lands would be given preference.

He, however, said it was not one of the immediate solutions to arrest the unabated suicides by the farmers.

"Sending farmers to Africa will have a cascading effect. We can encourage industries that can be fed on the agriculture produce. Another advantage is that Africa has access to big markets," Mr Reddy said.

On attracting investments to the State, he said the Government would go for `quality borrowing' by taking up `shopping' for mobilising resources.

Mr Reddy said the Government would set up a cell to monitor various options for raising resources.

"Our approach will be a two-pronged one. While going for low-interest loans for taking up developmental activities, we will explore ways to attract grants for grounding service activities like providing drinking water in villages," he said.

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