To achieve a Green Revolution, African farmers, must have access to land and security of tenure. They also need access to markets, technology and improved infrastructure.
If the YSRCP is voted to power, agriculture sector will be given top priority. The interests of all sections of people will be protected.
African agriculture today is among, or is, the most under-capitalized in the world. Only seven percent of arable land in Africa is irrigated, compared to 40 percent in Asia.
If you start from the farm sector, we need much better investments and capital creation on land. We need logistics support; we need cold chain and processing capability. We need proper pricing at various stages to ensure that the producers are not left out in the value-chain.
Globally, the highest number of irrigation projects are in India, and within the country, the highest number is in Maharashtra.
The labour of the farmers, no doubt is of greater value than the financial capacity of the government and non-government institutions which can only play a supportive role.
We're trying to bring improved seeds to rural villages to increase yields. We're also trying to improve the roads to make it easier for people to get their produce to the market.
If you're a commodity corn farmer in Iowa, you're locked into an infrastructure that keeps you a commodity corn farmer.
The discussion about food doesn't make any sense without discussion at the same time of land, land use, land policy, fertility maintenance, and farm infrastructure maintenance.
