New Delhi : To help Indian farmers in achieving healthy yield in pomegranate production, Israeli experts visited India to update scientists and farmers on the new technologies available to increase the production of fruit, an official with the embassy said Thursday.
The visit comes under the backdrop of agriculture cooperation between India and Israel in which seminars are held by experts in both countries.
“We’re here to ‘train the trainers’. The main activity in these centres is R&D (research and development). We’re trying to adapt Israeli technology to the Indian conditions and we’re sure we’ll get good results,” said Itzhak Kosto, Israeli expert, who was in India, to organise a two-day ‘Pomegranate Seminar’ at the Indo-Israel Centre of Excellence for Fruits at Sirsa.
“We want to avoid or to save farmers from doing mistakes while adapting of new technologies and we’re sure it will lead to good results.”
The Israeli expert updated scientists and farmers on fertigation which is the term used to describe scientific way of supplying fertilisers to plants by mixing it in drip irrigation, apart from pest and disease management, nursery know how and post-harvest practices.
Scientists from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and farmers from Sirsa and adjoining districts participated in this seminar.
The visit is a part of cooperation between the two countries which includes setting up of 30 ‘Centers of Excellence’ in nine India states in coordination between the NHM (National Horticulture Mission), states governments and the government of Israel through Mashav, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation.