India- Israel Relations | India-Israel Cooperation in Agriculture Sector

India has decided to convert 150 villages around the Centers of Excellence into Villages of Excellence with technical assistance from Israel.

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India-Israel Cooperation in Agriculture Sector- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

India-Israel Cooperation in Agriculture Sector- Context

Recently, India-Israel agreed to further enhance cooperation in the agricultural sector.
India has decided to convert 150 villages around the Centers of Excellence into Villages of Excellence with technical assistance from Israel.
- Out of these 150 Villages of Excellence, 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.

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India-Israel Cooperation in Agriculture Sector- Key Points

Indo-Israeli Agriculture Project: It is based on the concept of establishing Centers of Excellence which provide a platform for a rapid transfer of technology to the farmers with the aim of increasing productivity and improving the quality of produce.
- The first stage of the Indo-Israeli Agricultural Cooperation Project started in 2008 following the signing of a three-year Action Plan.
- The plan was later on extended to include the 2012-2015 period.
- Within this framework, the State of Israel was requested to share best practices and knowhow, and provide capacity building through professional training programs to be conducted both in Israel and in India.
INDO-ISRAEL Centres of Excellence: They are established under Indo-Israeli Agriculture Project with collaboration between Indian Agriculture Ministry and MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation.
- About: Indo-Israel Centres of Excellence provide a platform for a rapid transfer of technology to the farmers with the aim of increasing productivity and improving the quality of produce.
- Significance: The Centres of Excellence generate knowledge, demonstrate best practices, and train farmers.
- Performance: Agriculture Minister informed that 29 Centers of Excellence are functioning in 12 States. These Centers of Excellence are-
  - Producing more than 25 million vegetable plants, and over 387 thousand quality fruit plants and
  - Can train more than 1.2 lakh farmers per year.
- INDO-ISRAEL Villages of Excellence: this is a new concept aimed at creating a model ecosystem in agriculture across eight states, alongside 13 Centers of Excellence within 75 villages.
  - INDO-ISRAEL Villages of Excellence program will promote the increase of net income and better the livelihood of the individual farmer, transforming traditional farms into modern-intensive farms based on IIAP standards.
  - A large-scale and complete value chain approach with economic sustainability, embedded with Israeli novel technologies and methodologies will be tailored to local conditions.
  - Focus Areas: The INDO-ISRAEL Villages of Excellence program will focus on-
    - Modern Agriculture infrastructure,
    - Capacity Building,
    - Market linkage.