Israel: Continuing his working holiday meetings in Israel, Goa Forward Party President and Deputy Chief minister Vijai Sardesai along with his colleagues Jayesh Salgoankar and Vinod Palyekar today were hosted by the prestigious Agricultural Research Organisation-The Volcani Center, under the Ministry of Agriculture.
The delegation of Goa Forward Party ministers was received by Prof Eli Feinerman, Head of the organisation, Smadar Molsa, senior coordinator for foreign relations at the ministry of agriculture and rural development, and the delegation later met with Eng Noam Mozes, head of Mariculture Division at the ministry.
Mr Sardesai was briefed on the workings of the organisation and the state of the art technological advancement they have achieved to face a host of challenges and make Israel an agriculture superpower.
Housing many Centers of excellence, the ARO develops solutions for future crises like climate change, water scarcity and soil degradation, all of which find relevance in a state like Goa.
Mr Sardesai discussed the use of cutting edge technologies like precision farming and Agro-nanotechnolgy for food quality enhancement and plant protection, model farms for sustainable farming practices, soil conservation, waste water irrigation, new breeding techniques and new strains of crops among other aspects.
He also looked at solutions that could improve the quality of life of the farmers in Goa, increase their productivity and profitability while offering all Goemkars access to wholesome and safe food.
After the meeting, Mr Sardesai expressed confident that many of these state-of-the-art technologies will be of immense help to agriculture in the state, the farmers and the consumers by not only improving lifestyles but also keeping natural ecosystems in harmony with humans.
These high tech solutions of the ARO, he felt, will lift the weight off the shoulders of farmers and make their work not hard, but smart, and help his vision to make agriculture attractive to many.
