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Israel to set up three Centres of Excellence in Gujarat
Sep 03, 2012

 Will also set up an agricultural educational institution in collaboration with Israel offering post-graduation & PhD degree from Israeli varsities

Israel to set up three centers of excellence in Gujarat for sharing & transfer of farming technology

After maintaining double digit annual growth rate in farming sector for more than a decade against the national average of 2-3%, Gujarat is now focusing on replicating the success achieved by Israel in the segment and thereby inspiring the farmers in the whole nation to make India food bowl for Europe. While the state will organize an international level agricultural fair every three years for the purpose, just like being held in Israel, plans are also afoot to set up an farming educational institute in collaboration with Israel offering post-graduation & PhD programs with practical training and degree from Israeli universities.

 

These announcements were made by Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi at the inaugural function of National Convention on “The Next Frontier of Agri-Business & Technology” and “Agri Asiatech 2012” – an exhibition on farming, which began today at Mahatma Mandir, 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 & PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is the knowledge partner. This event is a precursor to the forthcoming Vibrant Gujarat, The Global Business Hub 2013.

 

Over 100 national & international companies showcased the latest technology in farming, automation in agriculture, crop safety, micro irrigation and so on in the exhibition. Apart from that, over 24 universities, research institutes (ICAR) and leading agro companies from across India have also displayed over 100 best practices developed by them in the ‘Display of Best Practices’.

 

In the inaugural address, Shri Modi said, “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 & Nichobar, Jammu and Kashmir.”

 

“Apart from the impressive growth Gujarat has witnessed in farming, the stature and nature of the initiative itself indicates Gujarat’s will and commitment for the development of the agricultural field upto its potential. All the participants will deliberate and explore possibilities of agricultural development,” he added.

 

“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. Israel also organizes an international level agro fair every three years, which attracts a large number of visitors from across the world. 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,” Shri Modi added.

 

Asserting that area under micro irrigation in the state has increased from below 1,000 hectare ten years ago to 7 lakh hectare today, he 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.”

 

Hinting about another important initiative, the Chief Minister said, “Gujarat is in talks with Israel to set up an agricultural educational institute in collaboration with its universities to offer post-graduation and PhD programs with practical training. The negotiation is in the final stage.”

 

In her address, Ms. Orna Sagi, Counsel General to India, Israel, said, “After a humble start around 20 years ago, Israel’s bi-lateral relations with India is now at new height and the trade between the two countries has gone up from US $ 180 million in 1992 to over US $ 5 billion now. When our country was established in 1948, its population was 6 lakh, of which 65 % were farmers, but we were not able to meet our demand for food at that point of time. At present, our population has grown to 78 lakh and only 2.4 % of the population is farmers. But ours is a grain exporter country today thanks to use of technology. Technology 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.”

 

The inaugural function was also attended by Shri Dileep Sanghani, Agriculture Minister, Gujarat and Mr. A. K. Joti, Chief Secretary, Gujarat. Over 7,000 delegates attended the convention. Earlier, Shri Modi also inaugurated the exhibition being held along with the convention. Apart from that, he honored 52 farmers for adopting best practices in the farming by giving them special awards and released a white paper on “Best Practices in Agriculture in Gujarat – A Journey over 52 Years.”

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