From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Sep 5: Karnataka’s high-level team of senior officials has left for Israel for studying the implementation of micro-irrigation schemes under agriculture and horticulture crops in that country.

The team comprising of Agriculture minister Shivashankara Reddy and Horticulture minister M C Managuli, secretary, department of Agriculture Maheshwara Rao, managing director and CEO, Rashtriya e-Market Services (ReMS) Manoj Rajan, and officials of Cooperation department are on a week-long visit to Israel.

The purpose of the team is for studying micro irrigation facility, water recycling technology, and use of fertilisers besides marketing models in both agriculture and horticulture fields.

After returning from Israel, the committee would submit its report about experience, said a release from the government.

The team visited Israel following the chief minister’s decision to adopt the Israel model to protect the crops and improve the condition of farmers in the State.

Before Assembly polls, chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and his party leaders visited Israel to study the incredibly successful water conservation methods that brought about the greening of the desert.

Many parts of State facing water shortage, despite heavy rains in Malnad and coastal areas, has been cited as the reason for official team’s visit to Israel.

The government is of the view that the Israel model of drip irrigation is the only possible solution to address the water craving agricultural model of the state.

The budget set aside Rs 300-crore for replicating the Israel model of Irrigation in 10,000 hectares of dry land in two phases.

Karnataka has already experimented with the Israel model of drip irrigation in Bagalkot district at Ramthal under Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited, popularly known as the Ramthal project is claimed to be the largest drip irrigation project in Asia.