Bhopal: Israel to set up farm centres of excellence in MP

Bhopal: The Israel government would set up two agriculture centres of excellence in Madhya Pradesh to educate progressive farmers, said Israel government’s consul general Ya’akov Finkelstein on Thursday. The consul who was on a two-day tour to the state told media persons that the Israel government would provide the technical support to the state government which would give the land and other infrastructures to set up the centres. The state government is waiting for an approval from the Centre to start the work. The consul said that the farmers of Sehore would be told how to use new technology in cultivating flower, and the farmers of Shajapur would be imparted training in farming citrus fruit.

Finkelstein said, “It’s not about imposing knowledge, but it is a venture of sharing knowledge.”  He said, “In Israel, the farmers keep cows and sell milk which is increasing the income of the farmers. In India, the farmers can also do cattle rearing along with the cultivation to raise their income”.  “In India, Israel is already having 26 centres, and the two proposed centres in MP will increase the number to 28,” he said.

He said, “India and Israel are working on many projects including those of water management, agriculture, defence, innovations and digital platform.” In Mumbai, representatives from Israel met Indian companies to set up research and development projects and industrial ventures.

“India is a great start-up nation. And in Silicon Valley, the two most-spoken languages are Hindi and Hebrew,” he said.  He also visited tribal museum and other places. After visiting the Tribal Museum, he shared his childhood memories with media persons, saying “We also played ‘gilli danda’ and the Pitthu, and when I saw the games at the museum, I was astonished. We are also sharing the same history.”Consul meets CM, Bisen

The consul met Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, agriculture minister Gourishankar Bisen, principal secretary Rajesh Rajora, chief secretary BP Singh. The consul invited the CM and the agriculture minister for the 20th International Agritech Exhibition, which will be held at the trade fair centre in Tel Aviv from May 8 to 10.