State signs pact on Telangana Sona

Agriculture Secretary B. Janardhan Reddy showing the tripartite agreement copy. (Source: arrangement)

A tripartite agreement was signed virtually on strategic branding and marketing of Telangana Sona (RNR-15048) superfine variety rice between the Agriculture Department, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) and Indian School of Business (ISB) on Friday.

Secretary (Agriculture) B. Janardhan Reddy, on behalf of Agriculture Department,Vice-Chancellor V. Praveen Rao, on behalf of PJTSAU, and Prof. D.V.R. Seshadri, Clinical Professor Marketing and Executive Director of ISB Centre for Business Markets, on behalf ofIndian School of Business, signed the MoU.

Speaking after signing the MoU, Mr. Janardhan Reddy said talks being held over the MoU for the last few weeks had culminated in signing the MoU and expressed the hope that results of the agreement would become visible from the next month. He said cultivation of Telangana Sona variety paddy had increased considerably this season.

Mr. Reddy, who is also Agriculture Production Commissioner, complimented the scientists of PJTSAU for developing the unique RNR-15048 superfine variety with low glycemic index and higher protein, carbohydrates, energy and vitamin B3.

‘Three challenges’

The Vice-Chancellor said with the hard work of the university staff and cooperation of the State government, PJTSAU had become one of the top three agricultural universities in the country. He stated that the farming community was facing three major challenges of risk in raising crops, increase in production costs and lack of remunerative prices to the produce and it was for the government, scientists and marketing experts to find out ways.

Prof. Seshadri of ISB said the role of rural areas and the farming sector in the country’s economy was ignificant. He said ISB would take up study for developing branding and marketing strategy for Telangana Sona as part of their JumpStartIndia@ISB initiative.

University Registrar S. Sudheer Kumar, director of Extension of Anand Singh and representatives of ISB D.N.V. Kumara Guru, Prof. Manish Gangawar and Prof. Madhu Viswanathan also participated in the virtual event.