CoEs in horticulture functioning well in India with Israel’s support: Tomar

A round table meeting between Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and Oded Forer, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister of Israel, was held in Jerusalem on May 11 during the visit of an Indian delegation to Israel.

According to a press release issued by the Agriculture Ministry, the two countries discussed various issues related to modern agro techniques, capacity building, transfer of knowledge know-how and support in the fields of agriculture, water management, environment and rural development, keeping in view the scope and potential of agriculture development in both the countries. During the discussion, Tomar expressed hope that Centres of Excellence (CoEs), which were functioning well in India with Israel’s support, would further be established in all the states.

During the interaction, MASHAV’s (the Hebrew acronym for the Agency for International Development Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel) agricultural cooperation programmes and other stakeholders' professional training activities in India were appreciated, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Tomar stated that the Indian government had to explore the possibilities to adopt MASHAV’s activities in India focusing on capacity building and transfer of knowledge for which CoEs would be established in each state.

Tomar said, “Over the past two days, I have seen along with my delegation Israel’s strength and innovation of Israel in agriculture.” Appreciating Israel’s efforts to convert desert regions into vegetable baskets, he said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India was bringing rapid changes in its agriculture sector by empowering farmers with technology, mechanization, smart and sustainable systems and agriculture business model.

Expressing happiness, Tomar said that the model of establishing CoEs in horticulture had gathered speed and 29 CoEs were fully functional now in 12 Indian states.

The deliberations during the meeting of the Indian delegation with Forer were extremely beneficial for agriculture development in India, said the release.