Indo-Israeli Centre of Excellence for Vegetables Protected Cultivation

On November 2, 2020, the Chief Minister of Assam, Sabananda Sonowal laid the foundation stone of Indo-Israeli Centre of Excellence for vegetables Protected Cultivation in Khetri in the outskirts of Guwahati, Assam.

Key Highlights

The centre will provide exposure to the latest Israeli technologies to the farmers of the state. It will help them in maximising their production. The centre is to provide a major boost to agricultural and horticultural production in Assam. The aim is to double farmers’ income in the region through infusion of technology in agribusiness, agriculture and food processing.

Background

The region of Assam has recently undergone substantial improvement in road, air and river connectivity. It is also becoming a promising destination for trade, cultural exchange, travel, commerce and tourism. This in turn is setting the state as a gateway to ASEAN and South East Asia under the Act East Policy.

Indo-Israel Centre of Excellence

The Centres of Excellence under India-Israel cooperation is spread across Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

Indo-Israel Action Plan

The India-Israel Action Plan was signed in 2006. There are three phases in the plan.

Phase I

The action plan of phase I was implemented between 2008 and 2010. During this phase, a number of technologies were transferred from Israel to India namely horticulture mechanization, orchard and canopy management, protected cultivation, nursery management and micro irrigation. During this phase, India also imported planting machineries. The states of Haryana and Maharashtra were focused during this phase. Experts from Israel trained number of officers in the states.

Phase II

A three-year Action Plan was framed for phase II between 2012 and 2015 under the Indo-Israel Action Plan. During this phase, the states such as Karnataka, Gujarat and Rajasthan were added to the existing states. During the second phase, the activities such as water use efficiency, post harvest management, waste water use, dairying were taken up for training and improvisation. The phase was later extended. During the extended phase, states such as Tamil Nadu and Punjab were included.

Phase III

This was implemented between 2015 and 2018. The same above activities were extended to other states such as Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand.

Three Year Work Programme

Currently India is implementing the Three-Year Work Programme 2018-20. It was under this programme that the Centre of Excellence is being constructed in Assam. This is also a part of Indo-Israel Action Plan.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2020