A yield class from Tel Aviv

drip irrigation of tomato crop

A small article in the Hindu this Sunday points to the small contingent of 2000 farmers from India that have attended the recently held 18th International Agricultural Exhibition help in Tel Aviv, Israel. Of these 2000, 600 each from Maharastra and Gujarath were sent there on government sponsored programs. A small but intrepid group of 40 farmers from Tamil Nadu attended, but they had to shell out the 1 lakh plus expenses to attend from their own pockets. The exhibition central theme was awareness of thrifty use of water resources.

The Tamil contingent let by organic farmer Mr. Thooran pointed out the importance of the lessons learnt and the need for government to support farmers whole heartedly as agriculture is the base of human development.

 The Israelis are famous for their prowess at turning desets into oasis of agriculture miracle. We should by now realise that our governement is incapable of forming comprehensive policies that provide integral support to farmers aspiring to make a difference, therefore it is important to secure, as pointed out by the author of the article, private co-operatives that create the frameworks that can enable small farmers to leverage this kind of knowledge and better market their produce.

The International Agriculture Exhibition is held every three years, lets hope that we can see more farmers from South India in 2015.