Farmers of Telangana can easily emulate agriculture practices of Israel, says official

Telangana government is implementing the drip irrigation equipment at subsidized rates, farmers can easily take a cue from the nation

Mancherial: The State government recently sent a team of 29 members comprising officials of the horticulture department, scientists and farmers to Israel to study innovative agriculture practices and methods of water conservation. K Sahaja, Horticulture Officer, who was a member of the team, said many ways adopted by Israeli farmers could be emulated in Telangana.

“Israel is known for adopting modern yet efficient ways of farming and water conservation. For instance, collective farming, one of the successful models of Israel can be introduced here.

---

In this model, farmers establish cooperative societies. They collectively take up spraying, sowing, purchase of machinery and many other operations on a large a large scale,” Sahaja told ‘Telangana Today.’

Irrigation management

“We can adopt irrigation management practised by farmers of Israel. Farmers of the country give the exact quantity of water needed for growth of a seedling.

They make sure the drip irrigation system is used in every field. Farmers of Telangana traditionally give more water to seedlings than required, giving rise to pests and diseases,” she said, also pointing out that the government of Israel does not offer subsidies on farm equipment. The country collects a fee of Rs.45 per 1,000 litres of recycled water for agriculture purposes by fixing meters in the farms.

Since the Telangana government is implementing the drip irrigation equipment at subsidized rates, farmers can easily take a cue from the nation.

Mulching

Similarly, farmers of Telangana could follow mulching, successfully implemented in that country. Mulching involves creating favorable conditions for plant growth and avoids evapotranspiration, loss of water through evaporation and transpiration from the land surface. The technique reduces the cost required for manual weeding and ensures that plants receive fertilizers and nutrients fed by farmers.

Grading, exporting

The officer further said that farmers here could draw inspiration from Israel in grading and exporting of farm produce to foreign countries instead of selling them in bulk quantities in local markets for nominal prices.

She stated that the agrarian community of the nation would grow a wide range of vegetable, flower, fruit crops, apart from wheat and jowar using modern means and conserving waste water.

Populated by 91.74 lakh people, Israel accounts for 11 lakh acres of cultivable land. The country registers rainfall of 508 mm per annum as against 1,150 mm of rainfall of erstwhile Adilabad district. It faces a severe water scarcity for drinking and agriculture needs.