Menahem Kanafi, Consul General of the State of Israel in Bengaluru, has stressed the need to develop cost-effective technologies to benefit small farmers in India.
Asked whether the small farmers of India could afford the highly advanced technology being used in Israel, he said the farm mechanism need not be expensive. It was possible to develop cost effective need-based technologies and modern farming practices to suit local needs.
Mr. Menahem was here to promote Agritech Israel 2015, the 19th international agricultural technology exhibition scheduled to be held at Tel Aviv from April 28 to 30, at the ongoing Agrovision-South Summit 2015.
Natural partnership
“Partnership between Israel and India is only natural as the Indian farmer will be able to reduce water consumption and increase the yield by using our technology,” he said.
Mr. Menahem said Israel had planned to open 30 centres of excellence in India, including three in Karnataka. They would promote research, training, and skill development. The centre at Belagavi would concentrate on cultivation of vegetables, the one in Bagalkot on pomegranate and the centre in Kolar on mango.
Talks were on between the two governments even as a few centres had been opened in India. These centres would provide training in new technologies, including on protected cultivation and drip irrigation.
Association
Rajendra Potdar, head, project planning and monitoring cell, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, recalled the long association between the UAS and Israel and said so far, 20 scientists had visited Israel to study technological advancements in the field of agriculture there.
He said recently, a few people from Dharwad had undergone a month-long training at Mashav, Israel’s International Agency for Development Cooperation. Mr. Potdar said that the scientists in India need to take up demand-driven research and the government should ensure that the successful experiments in laboratories reached the agricultural fields to reduce the technological gaps between Israel and India.
They will also promote skill development: Consul General of the State of Israel
The centre at Belagavi will concentrate on cultivation of vegetables
