Bhiwani (Haryana) [India], January 22 (ANI): As India and Israel celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relationship, Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon today inaugurated the 30th Indo-Israel Centre of Excellence here in the presence of Haryana's Agriculture Minister Jai Parkash Dalal and Madhya Pradesh's Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel.

Speaking on this occasion, Israel Ambassador Naor Gilon said, "This is a significant milestone in the agricultural cooperation between Israel and India. It is very special as this is the 30th Centre of Excellence inaugurated as our countries are nearing the completion of 30 years of full diplomatic relations."With this inauguration, we now have 30 fully-active Centers of Excellence in different states across India. More such centres are in the pipeline. These centres of excellence are big part of our wonderful relationship between India and Israel. They are catering to the farmers, bringing to them technology that is supposed if adopted well, the Israeli technology can increase their income significantly and their livelihood," he added.

Naor Gilon further said, "Everything that you look around here, all the greenhouses, all the drip irrigation, everything is made in India. So, this is the technology that was brought from Israel to India 20-30 years ago and now it is adopted here."The centre, established as part of the Indo-Israel Agricultural Project, is dedicated to semi-arid horticultural crops. Israel, which is famous for "making the desert bloom", is a pioneer in developing sustainable technologies and solutions for all agricultural sectors.

The establishment of these centres has been possible due to the coordinated efforts of the government of India, state governments and Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation at Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MASHAV), the Embassy of Israel in India said in the press release.

These centres provide a suitable platform for a rapid transfer of technology to Indian farmers. New agricultural technologies, including protected cultivation, drip irrigation and fertigation are demonstrated in these centres.

Every year, the centres produce more than 40 million premium-quality vegetable seedlings, and over 500 thousand high-quality fruit plants, and train more than 120 thousand Indian farmers, according to the press release.

The Israel-India cooperation in agriculture has deepened and widened since full diplomatic relations were established in 1992. During the initial period of establishment of the Centers of Excellence, the newest technologies in a range of agricultural fields were brought from Israel and implemented at these centres, according to the press release.

Over the years, the agricultural cooperation between the two countries has further enhanced. Now, Israeli technologies and know-how are being transferred and manufactured in India, further boosting the 'Make in India' initiative and benefiting the entire world.

The newly inaugurated centre is one such example, which will demonstrate Israel-based agricultural technologies produced in India such as drip irrigation, mulching, greenhouses etc. (ANI)