In a bid to share and facilitate transfer of its farming technology, Israel will set up three centres of excellences in the state of Gujarat.
Moreover, the state of Gujarat plans to set up an farming educational institute in collaboration with Israel offering post-graduation & PhD programs with practical training and degree from Israeli universities. "Ours is a grain exporter country today thanks to use of technology which can bring in such miraculous impact. To share our experience and facilitate transfer of technology, we are going to set three centers of excellence in the state of Gujarat each dedicated to vegetables, mangoes and post-harvest practices for dates & bananas respectively," said Orna Sagi, consul general to India, Israel at the inaugural function of National Convention on 'The Next Frontier of Agri-Business & Technology' and 'Agri Asiatech 2012', an exhibition on farming held at Gandhinagar.
The two-day event is organized by Industrial Extension Bureau (iNDEXTb) and Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation Ltd. (GAIC), wherein Israel is the partner country, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is the National Partner & Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) is the knowledge partner.
Like Israel, Gujarat is also planning to organize an international level agricultural fair every three years.
"This convention and exhibition is a first of its kind initiative by Gujarat for betterment of the farming sector of the country. It has attracted participation from farmers, machinery & equipment manufacturers, scientists, experts and technocrats from 11 Indian states and 7 foreign countries leading globally in agricultural advancement.
The number of participating farmers from other states was over 2000 including farmers from Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Maharashtra, Andaman & Nicobar, Jammu and Kashmir," said Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat at the inaugural function.
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According to Modi, every year 15,000 to 20,000 Indian farmers including about 2,000 farmers from Gujarat visit Israel to get first-hand experience of advance farming technologies being adopted there and that to at their own cost.
"Considering this, Gujarat Government has also decided to such kind of fair every three years at this Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar in order to educate the local farmers about the latest technological advancement in the field," Modi added.
Asserting that area under micro irrigation in the state has increased from below 1,000 hectare 10 years ago to 700,000 hectare today, Modi said, "Use of micro irrigation systems in sugarcane cultivation has helped in increasing the sugar content in the produce. Similarly, some farmers in the state have successfully harvested soyabean even in small pocket of lands and as a result, Gujarat has emerged as the exporter of the commodity."