The State government was laying due emphasis on realising the potential of the agriculture sector, even as it was in the process of building a greenfield capital city, Amaravati, and creating world-class infrastructure, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu told senior executives of agri business and seed companies at a round-table organised by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) at Iowa on Thursday.
The expertise of reputed agencies such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was being availed, Mr. Naidu said.
The Gates foundation offered to develop soil-nutrient profiles to help the farmers achieve higher yield on a sustainable basis, Mr. Naidu said and announced that Mr. Bill Gates would participate in an international agriculture conference scheduled to be organised in Visakhapatnam in November.
Mr. Naidu later participated in TDP Forum meeting in the Des Moines, the capital of Iowa State.
Mr. Naidu also held interactions with William Howard Northey, Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation in the United States Department of Agriculture.
Mr. Naidu later held deliberations with Wageningen University Executive Board President Louise Fresco on research in the field of nutrition and healthy foods.
An official release said Mr. Naidu suggested that the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the Iowa State, and Wageningen University could form a global consortium for taking the best agricultural practices forward for mutual benefit.
Mr. Naidu discussed the latest developments in agricultural research with Wendy Wintersteen, Dean of College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, at Iowa State University.
Mr. Naidu also took part in the World Food Prize-2017 programme, where he met a host of scientists and businessmen.