Deccan Chronicle | Nov 18, 2017
Expressing concern over the farming crisis, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday asked Mr Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), to offer support in agriculture, nutrition and health sectors of AP, and help the state government develop a model for tech-based agriculture, healthcare and sanitation.
Speaking at the valedictory of the three-day AP Ag Tech Summit-2017 here Mr Naidu said, “I don’t ask money from the American billionaire and philanthropist. I am appealing to Bill Gates to help AP government in terms of technology support in agriculture sector, nutrition for everyone and health sector.”
Recalling his first meeting with Mr Gates in 1995-96 in India, Mr Naidu said that the meeting was fixed for just 10 minutes but it lasted over 40 minutes. Praising the Microsoft co-founder, Mr Naidu said that Mr Gates had donated huge amounts for good causes. BMGF would now help in digital soil mapping.
Gates calls Naidu his ‘best friend’
Calling Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu his “best friend”, Bill Gates said that he would like to see a transformation in the field of agriculture so that it was run like a business – to be efficient, profitable, and meets the needs of producers and consumers.
While delivering the valedictory speech at the AP AgTech Summit-2017, he stressed on how the productivity of small and marginal farmers could be increased and market linkage could be improved with technology.
