AP Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy laid a foundation for Nutech Biosciences Unit at Andhra Pradesh Centre for Advanced Research on Livestock (AP CARL) which is changed to Indo-German Global Academy for Agro-Ecology Research and Learning (IG GAARL) here on Thursday.

Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister stressed the need for adapting natural farming to lead a happy and healthy lifestyle. He said the Centre will turn out to be of immense help to farmers, which will impart knowledge on natural farming. He stated that training in natural farming is necessary from the village level and said that natural farming methods will be integrated with Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) to create awareness among farmers.

He appealed to the farmers to reduce usage of chemicals in food products and opined that the research carried out at the academy will help the farmers to improve their productivity and earn better profits. He said that each RBK will be having master trainers to impart knowledge of scientific methods and support the farmers practising natural farming methods.

The Chief Minister said that about six lakh farmers are engaged in natural farming while 50 lakh farmers are doing agriculture across the State. He further stated that the RBKs will be turned into certifying agencies for natural farming products, which could gain a premium price and make other farmers join the trend. He expressed faith that the academy will develop as a world-class university and lead many more farmers toward natural farming.

The chief minister also appealed to the farmers to make best use of the RBKs which were established to assist the farmers right from registration of crops to the marketing of the produce. The government had also provided agriculture assistants in every village secretariat to assist the farmers, the chief minister said.