Telangana seeks Israeli expertise on farm practices
HYDERABAD: Telangana Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy said the government wants to make Telangana state self-sufficient in agriculture, horticulture and other allied fields.
Participating in an interaction between Israel Embassy officials and officials of horticulture and allied departments, Pocharam said Telangana has land, resources and manpower, yet it is forced to import basic commodities like vegetables, fruits, milk, egg or fish.
'We want to change that. We want our state to be self-sufficient. We want to see exports of horticulture and other allied sector products,' he said.
The minister, who had elaborated on how Telangana lost an opportunity of turning self-sufficient due to the policies of the leaders of other regions who ruled Telangana for nearly 58 years, he said.
'CM K Chandrasekhar Rao has already made it clear that agriculture is top priority. We will go to Israel and study the best agricultural practices in that country which in spite of less rainfall has achieved greater levels of productivity,' he said.
Later, speaking to mediapersons, he said the main objective of Israel deputy chief of mission Yahel Vilan and consul-general for trade and economic affairs Avi Friedman's visit to Hyderabad was to interact with officials and explore the possibilities of mutual cooperation between Telangana and Israel.
'We want to replicate the Israeli expertise of water management and cultivating more with less water,' he explained. The minister also wanted the officials to study the best practices adopted by Israel with regard to dairy farming.
Earlier, during the interaction, the Israeli officials made a power-point presentation on agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture, waste water management. Israeli officials expressed a desire to have Telangana state as part of their future programmes in India.
News Posted: 9 July, 2014
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