India, Israel to boost ties in agriculture

India and Israel are planning a slew of initiatives to bolster their cooperation in agriculture, said Ohad Nakash Kaynar, Deputy Chief of Mission at Israel’s Embassy in New Delhi. The two countries are planning to push high-level agricultural technology cooperation between Israeli institutions and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). 

Among the systems invented in Israel are drip irrigation, advanced filtration, advanced water leakage detection, rainwater collection and treatment systems, and water security technologies. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1992, Israel has been working closely with local partners in India to share its knowledge and technical expertise with Indian farmers.

Israel also plans to dramatically step up its presence in the country.

There are 30 fully-active Indo-Israel Centres of Excellence in different states across India. Fourteen more centres are in the pipeline. These centres are increasing farmers’ yield and productivity while diversifying local crops and improving the quality of produce. Israeli experts travel to India to train the trainers of these centres throughout the year. Similarly, Indian agricultural officers heading these centres receive training in Israel.

“Last year, we trained about 170,000 farmers about our technological solutions on greenhouse, drip irrigation, canopy irrigation and mulch," said Israel Agriculture Attache Yair Eshel.

Mulch is one of the effective technologies that is benefitting Indian farmers in saving water and protecting crops from weeds, so that they can save on chemicals and reduce weeds, while ensuring more moisture and increasing productivity and quality.

Mulch is very cheap and recyclable. This can be used for 2-3 years if you maintain it properly. “We introduce the idea of the technology to farmers, and they can adopt it by purchasing it from anywhere they want or find it cheap,” said Eshel.

“The yield of crops may increase up to 30-35% by using all tools, including drip irrigation, canopy irrigation and mulch,” Eshel added.

With the Israeli technological intervention in the greenhouse segment, sustainability can be achieved as those are recyclable. “We have the simplest greenhouse technology of several different greenhouses across the globe. It is not because it is cheap but it benefits farmers,” Eshel said. "We have several plans to improve yields of flowers, vegetables and fruits."

The Indian government announced in 2022 that it has decided to convert 150 villages around the Centres of Excellence into Villages of Excellence with technical assistance from Israel. According to Eshel, there are hopes to expand the number of villages to 275 by next year. Eventually, the number of villages is expected to grow to around 1,500 by 2026.

According to Eshel, Israel hopes to expand the number of villages to 270 by next year. Eventually, the number of villages is expected to grow to around 1,500 by 2026.

Israel is going to expand the number of its Centres of Excellence for agriculture. At present there are 30 centres and more 14 are in the pipeline. The Centre of Excellence, an Indo-Israel Agriculture Project, seeks to bring best practices and useful agricultural technologies to Indian farmers.

These centres are spread across the country, with a strong presence in Haryana and Tamil Nadu.

Over 50% of the aid budget of Mashav, Israel’s development cooperation agency, comes to India, and they are willing to set up as many Centres of Excellence as India requires. India and Israel are also in the “very late stages” of work on a new framework agreement on agricultural cooperation between the two countries. The agreement is pending before the Israeli Cabinet and should be signed after approval is given, said Ohad Kaynar, the Israeli DCM. India and Israel currently cooperate under the aegis of the Indo-Israel Agricultural Project, which is based on a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2006.