Saturday, November 1, 2008

ysr-haritandrapradesh



Hyderabad: In his firm determination of turning Andhra Pradesh into a Haritaandhrapradesh, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has asked the Department of Environment and Forests and the Social Forestry wing to take up an ambitious plan of planting over 30 crore saplings during this season.
Massive plantations should be taken up in all industries, both big and small, government buildings, national highways, state highways, district and rural roads, internal roads, hospitals, all educational institutions from professional colleges to schools, Dr Reddy said yesterday while holding a detailed review meeting with all the departments concerned on social forestry at the Secretariat.
YSR suggested that the Pollution Control Board (PCB) should give final clearance to industries only after ensuring the greeneries and planting of trees.
The CM YSR directed the Environment and Forest Department and the Pollution Control Board to prepare a master plan in the next 15 days for achieving the ambitious goal of a haritaandhrapradesh. He said planting of saplings and protection of the trees should be enforced and monitoring should also be done by the PCB. The CM YSR said the industries were expected to keep one fourth area under green cover and this should be strictly adhered to, adding that small industries were having some problems and hence the forest department should help them in the green coverage.
Dr YSReddy will also address the district collectors, social forestry officials and other officials through video conference on June 21 and direct them to take up plantations in a big way.

Agriculture Technology Mission (haritandhrapradesh)

TO bring in a holistic technology and research-driven approach to farm sector development and ensure that the State transitions into Haritandrapradesh (green Andhra Pradesh), the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy, today launched the Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Technology Mission.
Speaking after the launch of the mission, Dr Reddy said the mission seeks to improve the overall agriculture productivity and living standards of the farm community leveraging technology extensively.
The mission haritandrapradesh seeks to identify potential yield gaps in various crops and bridge them through precision farming techniques, improve water use efficiency, sustain dryland agriculture through crop diversification, encourage contract farming with appropriate legal framework, strengthen agro processing and bring in value addition to farm sector produce through market linkage.
While providing credit and insurance linkages, the effort would be to strengthen agricultural research and focus on location specific approach, and re-orient agricultural extension system with focus on empowerment of farmers and convergence of on farm enterprises like diary, poultry, sheep rearing, horticulture and bring in sustainable growth.
Mr D.A.Somayajulu, Advisor to Government on Economic Affairs and Policy Implementation, has been appointed as Deputy Chairman of the Agriculture Technology Mission (ATM).
The creation of technology mission is aimed at addressing issues concerning the farm sector in the State, on which about 62.3 per cent of the total workforce in the State is dependent upon. Recognising the importance of intervention to go beyond the traditional approach, the mission seeks to help the farm sector in their efforts to both enhance productivity as also brace up to competition.
The National Commission of farmers had suggested a programme for `Agricultural Renewal' that can be the starting point of the Second Green Revolution. The State mission fits directly into the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh's call to usher in a second green revolution.
While the ATM will formulate both long term and short-term plans and strategies for all the agriculture and allied sectors, it will not duplicate the executive work of the existing departments. The ATM is yet another election promise that Dr Reddy has fulfilled.
The Chief Minister ysr handed over awards to 41 farmers for their achievements.