No cut & paste of farm tech; want to help India adapt: Israel

New Delhi: Keen to expand bilateral ties with India during the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Israel today said it does not want to "cut and paste" its innovative farm technologies in India but help the latter "cut and adapt" them to suit local conditions.

The Jewish nation does not want to simply "talk and talk" about its technologies but believes in its ability to "walk the talk", Israeli envoy Daniel Carmon told the media after a conference which was a prelude to Modi's visit, most likely to take place in July.

Agriculture Secretary Shobhana Pattanayak, Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand and senior officials from Isareli Embassy and the government as also private companies were present in the conference.

Pattanayak said the purpose of the conference was to identify new areas of cooperation between the two countries. The outcome of the meeting will set the agenda for signing of an agreement during the visit.

Stating that Israel is a global leader in agri- innovations, Niti Aayog's Chand said: "Its innovations are followed by 60 per cent growers in Califonia. There is so much to learn and adapt their technologies in India. We want to take the relationship with it to the next stage."

Israel's water saving and reclying technologies can be of great benefit to India, which heavily depends on monsoon for agriculture, he said, adding that the Jewish country also has wonderful innovations in storage, mechanisation horticulture crops and other farm areas. As part of the bilateral cooperation, Israel has set up 27 Centres of Excellences in various parts of India.

"The first stage was done on a pilot stage. Now, we want these pilots to be implemented on ground level as much as possible."

So far, the bilateral cooperation with Israel has been government-to-government and business-to-business and going forward it should be farmers and at field level so that technologies are adapted successfully, he added.