Israel plans to open centres on agri-horticulture in Bihar

Patna: Israel is planning to open two centres of excellence at Nalanda and Vaishali in Bihar in the field of vegetables and mango respectively to help cultivators increase their productivity. In these centres, Israeli agricultural experts along with local farm scientists would impart knowhow of the latest technology to growers to help them raise the production level; Ohad Horsandi, Israeli Embassy spokesman, told PTI here today. "Bihar has fertile land and grows fruits like mango, litchi, banana and various vegetables including potato. "If farmers are told about latest technology, their productivity would rise many-fold," he said. The west Asian country is running 20 centres of excellence in the field of agriculture and horticulture across India and these two proposed centres in Bihar were among nine more it was planning to start by 2015, Horsandi said. He said there was scarcity of water in Israel and his country had expertise in irrigation system, water treatment and water recycling. Horsandi said they were also interested in extending cooperation to Bihar in dairy sector and developing cold chains.