The Andhra Pradesh State government and Quality Council of India (QCI) organised a ‘Andhra Pradesh Gunvatta Sankalp’, a one-day workshop to discuss and deliberate on quality interventions in agriculture and allied sectors to augment and support State governments’ initiatives towards quality improvement, here on Tuesday.
On the occasion, Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy said that Andhra Pradesh was the first State in the country to receive the accreditation from the QCI for issuing IndGAP (India Good Agricultural Practices) Certification which helps the farmers, Farmer Producers Organisations (FPOs) and exporters to access markets in more than 130 countries across the globe. During Kharif, 2023 IndGAP certification programme was organised in 600 hectares on pilot basis involving 33 FPOs covering various agricultural and horticultural crops. As on date, 14 FPOs have been qualified for issuance of IndGAP certificates, he said.
The Minister said that the Gunvatta Sankalp would have to bridge the channels together for ensuring the development of a quality ecosystem in the agriculture and allied sectors in the State.
The State government focuses on agriculture, allied sectors growth and farmer’s welfare. Several welfare and development schemes such as YSR Rythu Bharosa-PM Kisan, free power supply for agriculture and allied sector, etc. were being implemented to help the farmers for practicing good agriculture and to improve their income levels. The novel initiative, Rythu Bharosa Kendralu (RBKs), has revolutionised the service delivery and extension in agriculture and allied sectors. The RBK system is appreciated at national and international-level and stands as a role model. Many national institutes viz., ICAR, IARI, NSRTC, NIPHM, IVRI etc. have signed MoUs with us for technical collaboration with the RBK programme, he added.
The QCI and the Government of Andhra Pradesh signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). As part of it, the QCI will provide extensive technical support across various agriculture and allied sectors, to fuel Andhra Pradesh’s journey towards a Viksit Bharat built on quality and sustainability.
QCI Chairperson Jaxay Shah, Chief Commissioner (RBKs) Gopal Krishna Dwivedi, Principal Secretary (Marketing & Cooperation Development) Chiranjiv Choudhary, Commissioner of Horticulture & Sericulture Dr S.S. Sreedhar, Agriculture Commissioner Hari Kiran and others were present.
