A senior delegation of 6 officials from Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Government of Nepal visited two INDO-ISRAEL Centers of Excellence (CoE) for Vegetables & Citrus in Punjab and for Beekeeping in Haryana from 29-30 March 2022. The delegation was led by Dr. Rewati Raman Poudel, Director General at Department of Agriculture, aiming to see the ongoing activities & the model of CoE in the collaboration with MASHAV- Israel as the Government of Nepal intends to establish the same in the country with Israel to benefit & boost the economy of Nepali farmers.
Nepal and Israel signed a bilateral agreement in 2020 to establish seven Centers of Excellence in Nepal in order to bring Israeli technology and conduct trainings in Agriculture sector in Nepal.
The delegation was hosted by Mr. Yair Eshel, Agriculture Attaché MASHAV, Embassy of Israel in New Delhi, for a dinner meeting. During the meeting, Mr. Eshel explained about the model of implementation for a Centre of Excellence & the role of MASHAV. He also informed that at present, there are 29 INDO-ISRAEL Centers of Excellence that are fully operational in 12 states in India & many more in making in additional 9 states.
Note:
The Centre of Excellence (CoE) are advanced/intensive agricultural farms for knowledge transfer of Israeli Agro-Technology tailored to the local conditions. CoE aims to benefit farmers with a focus on selected key crops. Each CoE is comprised of Nursery management, Best practices Cultivation techniques, Irrigation & fertigation & post-harvest management. Sustainability- aims to develop into a self-sufficient platform in the aspect of HR, accumulated knowledge & operating capabilities. The CoE acts as a meeting point for Academy, Government and farmers to cooperate towards fruitful achievements