AP Agriculture Pilot
Acting on the directives of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu issued during the Rythanna Meekosam workshop, the Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Department has launched a data-driven initiative to enhance farmers’ Gross Value Addition (GVA), net income, and overall value addition across primary sectors. With technical support from Athena Infonomics as the Project Management Unit (PMU) under the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the department is implementing a pilot programme to strengthen planning and value enhancement at the Rythu Seva Kendra (RSK) level. The initiative aims to identify local agri-resources contributing to GVA and train RSK staff in value-addition strategies, including smarter crop selections and market-linked planning.
Director Dr. Manazir Jeelani Samoon chaired a review meeting at the Mangalagiri office with senior officials and the PMU team. He reiterated the Chief Minister’s call for farmers in agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, and sericulture to adopt practices that boost net income. He added that RSK teams will undergo structured training in calculating GVA, analysing value drivers, and mapping local opportunities, emphasising that meaningful mindset change must begin at the field level.
Village-level departmental data will be integrated into the RSK Unit Dashboard to facilitate evidence-based decision-making. The PMU has also been instructed to incorporate market price analytics up to the RSK level to ensure transparency. The meeting additionally reviewed GPS-based mapping of farm machinery—including harvesters and tractors—to improve utilisation. Dr. Samoon directed that Annual Action Plans prepared by RSKs must be realistic, holistic, and performance-oriented.
