Khattar seeks Israeli investments in Haryana

Team Udayavani, May 9, 2018, 5:45 PM IST

Herzliya (Israel): Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has invited Israeli investors to be a part of Haryana’s growth story as he sought to deepen the state’s collaboration with Israel in agriculture, water management besides exploring the use of Israeli technology in policing and rescue operations.

Khattar is leading a strong delegation from Haryana at the global agricultural technology exhibition, Agritech Israel 2018.

“We have five Centres of Excellence already operational in Haryana to help agricultural productivity with Israeli know how and a sixth one in the pipeline. The goal is to increase income of farmers in the state by utilisation of research and technology in Israel to increase agricultural produce,” Khattar told PTI.

Khattar said he had visited Israeli police departments and witnessed demonstration of rescue operations which were “quite impressive”. 

“We may also explore police and rescue operations training using Israeli technology,” the Haryana Chief Minister said.

“The rescue team here is able to reach out to needy people anywhere within three minutes and Israelis are looking to even better the timing. The coordination required to make this possible is praiseworthy,” he said. 

At the conference, Khattar sought collaborations in the fields of waste water treatment, micro irrigation, precision farming, crop innovation, and sprinkler system to assist and enable the farmers of his state to produce more and increase their income.

He invited potential partners, companies, and research institutions from Israel to be a part of the growth story of Haryana through investments and collaboration.

He said integrated farming also reflected the social character of the joint family system in India.

Khattar said ways should also be explored for the development of arid and semi-arid regions where industrialisation can play an important role.

He said that the state government was coming up with an industrial township of global standards in Sohna, which would serve as a catalytic agent for the development of the region.

Khattar also visited agricultural farms and interacted with farmers and micro irrigation experts to get a first-hand account of the latest Israeli technology and expertise. 

Delegations from Haryana, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Punjab are participating in the three-day Agritech 2018 conference alongside representatives of over 100 Indian companies, making the Indian contingent the largest one at the 20th version of the annual event.

Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala along with officials from the ministry are also participating in the conference.

Participants from around the world have been sharing their know-how and displaying latest innovation and technology in agriculture and food processing at the conference. The theme for this year’s conference is “Agriculture in Arid and Semi-arid Regions”, a topic pertinent to large parts of India.

Agritech Israel is considered one of the world’s most important exhibitions in the field of agricultural technologies.

Khattar would be leaving for UK today to tap British investments in the state.