Bandeppa Kashempur

Bidar: The State Government has decided to adopt agricultural technology from Israel. Farmers associations feel that this will provide some respite to farmers caught in the vicious circle of lack of rainfall, credit and proper markets for their produce.

"Israel has agreed to transfer some advanced cultivation and post-harvest technologies to our State. We will start a pilot project by adopting these technologies in 10 taluks in seven districts. Scientists from the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) in Bangalore and Dharwad will oversee the process on 720 acres in these 10 taluks," Agriculture Minister Bandeppa Kashempur told The Hindu . Around Rs. 5 crore will be spent on this project.

According to him, the Israel Farmers' Federation and Agrexo, an agri-products export promotion agency in that country, have agreed to work with the State Government and the UAS.

"Israel's success in agriculture has many lessons for India. Over 60 per cent of the land in Israel is desert. The total arable area there is just 20,000 sq. km, which is roughly one-fourth the surface area of Karnataka. Only 2.5 per cent of the labour force is in engaged in agriculture there. However, a large part of the food and fruits consumed in Europe is grown in Israel," he said.

"The secrets behind Israel's success in agriculture are unflinching support of the State to farmers, group farming, market-oriented cultivation and harvesting, and strong presence of the private sector in extension, credit disbursal and export," said Mr. Kashempur, who visited some institutions run by the Israel Farmers' Federation and Agrexo some time ago.

Raitha sangha in favour

The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha seems to like the idea. "We have been urging the Government to adopt the Israeli model for decades now. We are happy that the Government has realised our point at least now," said sangha secretary Ramesh Biradar.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail