• India and Israel have signed a three-year joint work programme till 2023 with an aim to enhance cooperation in the field of agriculture.

• Under this programme, Centres of Excellence (CoEs) were set up to train farmers about Israeli farm and water technologies.

• A new work programme Indo-Israel Villages of Excellence is also being implemented. 

5th Indo-Israel Agriculture Action Plan

• India and Israel have bilateral relations since 1993 in the agricultural sector. 

• So far, four such joint work programmes have been successfully completed. 

• This is the 5th Indo-Israel Agriculture Action Plan (IIAP). 

• This new work programme will further strengthen the bilateral relations and mutual cooperation between the two countries in the field of agriculture for the benefit of the farming community.

• The exchange of technology between India and Israel will greatly improve the productivity and quality of horticulture, thereby increasing the income of farmers.

• The three-year work programme (2021-2023) reflects the strength of growing partnership and will benefit local farmers both through the CoEs and the Villages of Excellence.

Centres of Excellence

• Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) and MASHAV — Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation — are leading Israel’s largest G2G cooperation, with 29 operational Centres of Excellence (CoEs) across India in 12 states, implementing advanced-intensive agriculture farms with Israeli agro-technology tailored to local conditions. 

• Every year, these CoEs produce more than 25 million quality vegetable seedlings, more than 3,87,000 quality fruit plants and train more than 1.2 lakh farmers about the latest technology in the field of horticulture.

• The work programme will aim to grow existing CoEs, establish new centers, increase CoE’s value chain, bring the CoE into the self-sufficient mode, and encourage private sector companies and collaboration.

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.

• The programme will promote the increase of net income and better the livelihood of the individual farmer, transforming traditional farms into modern-intensive farms based on Indo-Israel Agriculture Action Plan (IIAP) standards. 

• Large scale and complete value chain approach with economic sustainability, embedded with Israeli novel technologies and methodologies will be tailored to local conditions. 

The programme will focus on: 

1) Modern agriculture infrastructure

2) Capacity building

3) Market linkage.

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