Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

19-December-2011 14:27 IST

Cooperation with USA

            India and US have established several bilateral mechanisms for increasing cooperation in different sectors, including manufacturing and education.  Some of these are listed below:-

·         India-US Trade Policy Forum

·         Joint Working Group in the field of Information and Communications Technology

·         High Technology Cooperation Group

·         India US CEOs Forum

·         India-US Education Dialogue

These groups have made suggestions to both countries for enhancing cooperation in different sectors.

An Indo-Israel Agriculture Work Plan was signed during the visit of Agriculture Minister to Israel in May 2006 and an Action Plan (2008—2010) was agreed upon in January 2008.  The action plan 2008-10 was implemented in the states of Haryana and Maharashtra.  Funds for the following projects were sanctioned under the National Horticulture Mission (NHM) and technical inputs from Israel.

Haryana:  An amount of Rs. 15.70 crore was sanctioned under National Horticulture Mission (NHM) for implementation of following projects under Indo-Israel Action Plan (2008-10) in the State for Haryana:

Centre of Excellence for fruits at Sirsa               -           Rs. 9.70 crore

Centre of Excellence for vegetables at Karnal-               Rs. 6.00 crore

Maharashtra:  An amount of Rs. 15.48 crore was sanctioned under National Horticulture Mission (NHM) for implementation of following projects under Indo-Israel Action Plan (2008-10) in the State of Maharashtra:

Centre of Excellence for Mango at Ratnagiri-                  Rs. 6.36 crore

Centre of Excellence for Citrus at Akola        -                Rs. 4.54 crore

Centre of Excellence for Pomegranate at Rahuri             Rs. 4.58 crore

Good progress was achieved during the implementation of Action Plan from January 2008 to December 2010.  A number of technologies in the field of horticulture mechanisation, protected cultivation, orchard and canopy management, nursery management, micro-irrigation and PHM were achieved through visit of Israeli Experts in the States of Haryana and Maharashtra.  During this phase, elite planting material/varieties of fruits and machinery was also imported from Israel.  The experts from Israel trained the officers and farmers from these States on above mentioned fields during the 1st phase of implementation.  A number of officers from States (57 nos.)were trained in Israel during this period.

            Government of Israel has extended full co-operation during this period in the implementation of Indo-Israel Agriculture Action Plan and has also agreed for second phase of action plan for further strengthening and widening the scope of bilateral cooperation in agriculture between the two countries by another three years.

This information was given by Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia,  Minister of State for Commerce and Industry in written reply to a question in the Lok  Sabha today.

DS/GK

Bilateral cooperation mechanisms expand sectoral dialogue and technical exchange, enabling agricultural action plans and technology transfer. Bilateral cooperation was advanced via sectoral mechanisms-Trade Policy Forum, High Technology Cooperation Group, ICT Joint Working Group, CEOs Forum and Education Dialogue-to promote policy dialogue and technical exchange. An Indo Israel Agriculture Action Plan (2008-2010), implemented in Haryana and Maharashtra under the National Horticulture Mission, funded Centres of Excellence and enabled technology transfer in mechanisation, protected cultivation, orchard and nursery management, micro irrigation and post harvest management, complemented by Israeli technical assistance, expert visits and training, with a commitment to a further phase.