Israeli Firm To Provide Farm Technology To Andhra

Israeli corporate outfit BHC Company will help Andhra Pradesh in integrated water conservation and the development of agriculture in one of the Assembly constituencies as a pilot project.

If the experiment succeeds, the programme will be extended to the remaining 293 constituencies in a phased manner.

Apart from introducing drip and sprinkler irrigation, floriculture and horticulture, the plan envisages the setting up of a fully mechanised co-operative farm over 3,000 acres for which the state government would provide Rs 12 crore towards equipment and inputs.

BHC, which has signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government, has assured a four-fold increase in the income of the farmers in the constituency over four years.

Kuppam, the southern most part of Chittoor district bordering on Tamil Nadu on one side and Karnataka on the other, has been selected as the constituency for the pilot project. Apart from being the most backward constituency in the Rayalaseema region, Kuppam is also Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's constituency.

Naidu justifies the selection on the ground that the farmers of Kuppam have been motivated over the years in the principle of self-help and community work and are now in the take-off stage to absorb high technology and improved agricultural practices.

In June 1995, 250 farmer-leaders from the constituency were sent to Nasik to study and adopt the philosophy of Anna Hazare. As a result, one farmer in the constituency was able to generate an income of Rs 80,000 per acre from sericulture.

Another farmer has, all by himself, drawn up a flawless micro plan to bring under the plough all the 320 acres of agricultural land in his village as against a mere 30 acres now. Naidu says the vision exhibited by his voters had prompted him to conceive the Janmabhoomi programme, which aims at development through self-help.

A team from Israel recently visited the constituency and identified 10 villages in two revenue mandals where