Rio stresses on agriculture in Israel

Kohima, May 13: Highlighting the vast potential of North East to the international community in agriculture and allied sectors, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio yesterday stressed on the need of cooperation and partnership between Nagaland and Middle East countries.

Addressing the Agritech 2006 Conference at Tel Aviv, the capital of Israel, on Wednesday last, Mr Rio said technological intervention in the agriculture sector had become necessary since the traditional and indigenous knowledge systems did not fully exploit the full potentials that were inherent in the North East.

An official release issued by the Press Secretary of the Chief Minister stated that Nagaland was looking for cooperation in technology know-how, in which Israel is the world leader. The Chief Minister hoped technology relating to high tunnel cultivation for round the year would be available for specific crops.

High tunnel cultivation would be ideally suited for hilly terrain for protection of land and crops from excessive rainfall, along with rainwater harvesting for use during dry seasons, he observed.

Mr Rio was confident that any partnership between Israel and Nagaland would take off smoothly since Nagaland has a rich social capital with strong community bonds and traditional institutions. He compared the Naga village communities with the Kibbutz systems that have evolved in Israel, the release added.

UNI