Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for Vegetables

The technology for the Center is provided by Israeli experts under the India-Israel Action Plan (IIAP) with funds for building infrastructure for demonstration purposes from MIDH.

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Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for Vegetables- Relevance for UPSC Exam

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

Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for Vegetables in News

Recently, the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare laid the foundation stone of the Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for Vegetables in Chandauli (Uttar Pradesh).

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Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for Vegetables

About: Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for Vegetables will act as a place where seeds and plants of improved vegetables will be cultivated and distributed to the farmers.
- Farmers can also sponsor the development of plants for themselves.
Role of Israel: The technology for the Center is provided by Israeli experts under the India-Israel Action Plan (IIAP) with funds for building infrastructure for demonstration purposes from Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH).
Locations: Centers of Excellence (CoEs) are being set up in the States based on Israeli technologies.
Significance: These Centers of Excellence act as demonstration and training centers for the latest technologies in the field of Horticulture.
- They also serve as a source of planting material for fruits and vegetables in protected cultivation.
Why Chandauli (U.P): The climate of Chandauli district, which is known as the rice bowl of UP, is suitable for setting up the Center of Excellence for Vegetables.
- There are 9 agro-climatic zones in the State which are favourable for the cultivation of various horticultural crops throughout the year.
Key Activities:
- Seedling production of tomato, pepper, brinjal, chilli, cucumber, tomato, pepper, brinjal, chilli and exotic vegetables is proposed to be done in the hi-tech climate controlled greenhouse to be set up in the Center of Excellence for Vegetables.
- Cultivation of cucumber, cauliflowers, baby corn, sweet corn and exotic vegetables is proposed in the open field.
- Along with micro-irrigation in the open, a trial demonstration of farming with fertigation and chemigation systems will be done.
- There will also be a demonstration of installation of seepage, sprinkler irrigation and other plastic culture applications.

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Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for Vegetables- Benefits to Farmers

Farmers will get a lot of benefit in increasing the production of vegetables.
- By using the latest methods of farming, farmers will be able to get better yield and also export vegetables.
Nursery of other agricultural produce including vegetables will be prepared at this Center of excellence to promote the Agriculture sector globally.
- This will not only benefit the farmers here, but will help the district be known globally in the field of vegetables and agriculture.

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.