Visakhapatnam: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will visit Andhra Pradesh on November 17 to participate in the national-level agriculture conference in Visakhapatnam.

The three-day conference will start on November 15. Bill Gates will attend the meet on the concluding day. The Bill and Melinda Foundation had agreed to partner with the AP government in the agriculture sector.

Mr Gates will extend cooperation to the state on behalf of the foundation for the development of agriculture.

AP chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu confirmed Mr Gates’ visit on Monday. The state is conducting soil tests and gathering information of standing crops. It is set to witness further development in agriculture by taking the technological support to be extended by the Gates Foundation.

He said that during the conference in November, the state government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will enter into an agreement, which will be beneficial to the state, and in particularly to small and marginal farmers.