Israeli Expertise to Help Indian Agriculture

Israel is in the process of setting one or two Centres of Excellence in agriculture development in Telangana and two Centres of Excellence in agriculture development in Andhra Pradesh.

And also already in the implementation of the third phase of the Indo-Israeli Agriculture Cooperation Project, Israel is helping. In this project farmers are trained in water management, best farm practices and post-harvest management in different States.

Israel Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon said, “We are holding discussions with Government officials of the States and how best we can help the farmers. Our drip irrigation methods have been adopted in many places and the Prime Minister’s irrigation scheme only means we expect more Israeli firms to collaborate.”

They also said that, his country has specialised in desalination plants and though eight such plants were operational in different parts in India, more could be started with the technology provided for because water availability is always in shortage here.

The trade between both countries had galloped from $ 600 million in 1992 to over six billion dollars in 2014-15. The potential was huge and if the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is signed, there would be more trade, commerce and collaborations, Mr. Carmon observed. He also said, “It is in the interests of both countries and we have already held eight rounds of discussions and it would be a gift to India and Israel as we are currently celebrating the 25th year of establishing diplomatic relations. ”

He urged the industry body to send its representatives to Agri-Tech, Med-Tech and Wat-Tech, which are the three major events happening in his country. In these events the latest technologies in the fields of agriculture, medical industry and water technologies would be showcased as collaborative efforts could be forged between firms of both nations.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com