Telangana Minister for Agriculture S. Niranjan Reddy has called for mutual cooperation between Telangana and Iowa State in the US as the two States have several similarities, including their focus on production of foodgrains, poultry and meat production.
A delegation led by Mr. Niranjan Reddy and comprising Secretary Agriculture M. Raghunandan Rao and Managing Director of the State Seed Development Corporation K. Keshavulu on a visit to the US called on Lt. Governor of Iowa Adam Gregg on the first day of their visit at Des Moines on Monday. They explained the progress made by Telangana in nine years, particularly in the agriculture and allied sectors.
Stating that there was scope for mutual cooperation between the two States, the Minister said the proactive decisions taken by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had helped phenomenal increase in the foodgrain production in Telangana. The Minister explained to Mr. Gregg along with statistics in the State’s progress in paddy, fish, milk and meat production and said the focus now was on oilseed production.
In a meeting with Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, the visiting team said the research work done by renowned agronomist Norman Borlaug, who was from Iowa, had helped countries, including India, achieve self-reliance in the matter of foodgrains. Mr. Naig said he would soon visit Telangana to witness the progress made by Telangana.
Later, they visited the Iowa State University campus and met University president Wendy Wintersteen and went round the seed science centre there.