Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar and Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon, on January 27, agreed to enhance cooperation to improve India’s agriculture sector. The Minister congratulated Gilon on taking over as the Ambassador of Israel to India and expressed his delight on the completion of 30 years of diplomatic relations between India & Israel.
The Minister expressed satisfaction at the functioning of 29 Centers of Excellence in 12 States which are producing more than 25 million vegetable plants, over 387 thousand quality fruit plants and can train more than 1.2 lakh farmers per year.
The Minister informed that it has been decided to convert 150 villages around the Centres of Excellence into Villages of Excellence with technical assistance from Israel, out of which 75 villages are being taken up in the first year to commemorate the 75th year of India’s independence where India and Israel will work together.
He also highlighted the various schemes that have been launched by the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the welfare of farmers, including PM-Kisan, Agri-Infrastructure Fund, formation of 10 thousand FPOs, schemes for the promotion of organic farming, natural farming and soil health cards, etc.
The Ambassador expressed satisfaction over the functioning of the Centers of Excellence, stating that these CoEs are a great example of cooperation between the two countries. He appreciated the working of ICAR institutes and showed interest in further collaboration with ICAR and making available the latest technologies available with Israel. He proposed the certification of CoEs to further enhance the standards and quality of services being provided to the farmers. He also invited Union Minister Tomar to visit Israel.
The Minister appreciated the Ambassador’s proposals, agreed to work on them and thanked the Ambassador and the officers from the Embassy of Israel for their cooperation.
(With inputs from PIB)