The centres of excellence generate knowledge, demonstrate best practices and train officers and farmers
BS Yediyurappa, Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka and Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India jointly inaugurated the three Centers of Excellence (COEs) established in Karnataka under Indo-Israel Agricultural Project (IIAP).
MIDH Division of Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare, Government of India and MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation – are leading Israel’s largest G2G cooperation, with 29 operational Centres of Excellence (CoEs) across India in 12 states, implementing advanced Israeli Agro-Technology tailored to local conditions.
Out of these 29 fully functional CoEs, three are from Karnataka, viz., COE Kolar for Mango, COE Bagalkote for Pomegranate and COE Dharwad for Vegetables. The centres of excellence generate knowledge, demonstrate best practices and train officers and farmers.
Tomar said, “The centres will help the farming community of Karnataka get access to the latest innovative Israeli technologies and adopt them to increase production and productivity, which will help in increasing the farmer’s income. The CoEs have the capacity of 50,000 grafts production and 25 lakh vegetable seedlings production annually. About 20,000 farmers have visited these CoEs to gain knowledge about the modern cultivation practices in horticulture”.
R Shankar, Minister of Horticulture and Sericulture, Government of Karnataka, said “There is a lot of scope for adoption of new technologies in crop production and post-harvest management to increase the production and productivity of the horticulture produce in Karnataka. To provide these latest technologies to the farmers, the Government of India in collaboration with Israel has helped establish these centres of excellence for mango in Kolar, Pomegranate in Bagalkot and vegetables in Dharwad under the Indo Israel Agriculture Project (IIAP).
Dr Ron Malka, Ambassador of Israel to India, Embassy of Israel said, “We are proud and excited to collaborate with the Government of Karnataka in agriculture, which is a significant part of the Indo-Israeli partnership. This is a milestone in the development of the state’s agriculture sector and will give local farmers a competitive edge in the national and international market. This will also enable them to double their income.”
