Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has said concerted efforts should be made by both the states and the Union Government to enhance agricultural exports from the country, as at present only 10 per cent of the agri produce is going out.

He made the observation here on Thursday at the APAgTech Summit 2017 on the second day. He asked agricultural scientists to develop better post-harvest technologies to reduce wastage and he promised full support to Andhra Pradesh to emerge as a leading horticulture hub.

He said AP ranked No. 1 in the country in the production of seafood, mangoes, turmeric, chilli and tomatoes and "the State has a bright future ahead. Andhra is setting the example in leveraging modern technologies in agriculture under the leadership of Chandrababu Naidu."

India’s agriculture production is valued at Rs 98,000 crore. “As there is a huge wastage due to non-availability of post-harvest facilities, the primary sector is lagging behind,” he added.

Focus on infra

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said the focus was on adopting both pre-harvest and post-harvest technologies and developing infrastructure to ensure better prices to farmers.

There was a session on Thursday on making use of big data analytics to transform agriculture in the country and to provide solutions to the problems faced by the small and marginal farmers in the state and the country. Experts stressed the need to build a reliable data base relating to agriculture, as at present archaic methods are being employed by the Government agencies to collect data. The private sector should also play a crucial role in taking the big data analytics to the field level and make it useful to the ordinary farmer at the village level.

comment COMMENT NOW