Israel to help India in agriculture, says Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel wants to help India in agriculture to increase the production, Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, said at Vadrad in north Gujarat district of Sabarkantha on Wednesday. He said that about 20 Centres Of Excellence have already been set up in India with Israel's help and more are in the pipeline.

Netanyahu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited a Centre of Excellence for Vegetables at Vadrad on Wednesday. The centre has been set up with Israeli help and helps farmers adapt various technologies to grow vegetables. Farmers from across the state are also trained here. Netanyahu said that it is a part of Jewish culture to share the knowledge with the rest of the world. Israel has similar centres in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

At the time of the Bible, Israeli land used to grow dates and wheats. But over time it was turned barren. In past 70 years, we are applying scientific technologies to agriculture to improve the yield, minimize the usage of water and increase the survival of the crops. We want to help India to help itself by sharing our knowledge. We have set up 20 Centre of Excellence and it will soon rise to 30," said Netanyahu.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that there are similarities between the climate of Israel and Gujarat and that Gujarat can learn a lot from Israel."

"Israel has successfully applied technologies in areas that were once desert and grew crops with minimum usage of water. Gujarat, by and large, is also drought affected and lack perennial rivers," said Modi.

He added that use of technologies in agriculture is one critical aspect of government's aim to double farmers' income by 2022. In India, there is a perception that unless you flood your fields with water, you will not get high yield. Israel has proved that you can multiply your yield by a fraction of water," said Modi.

Close to one lakh farmers have benefited from the Vadrad CoE so far. About half a dozen of them gave their testimonies how the intervention of CoE helped them increase their yield an income.