Indian ryots urged to learn from Israel

Ratlam, MP, Feb 6: Bharatiya Kisan Sangh Secretary Prabhakar Kelkar feels that insted of lamenting about paucity Indian peasants should take a lesson from a country like Israel and gird up their loins for confronting international competition while making independent efforts to gather resources.

''A mere 1.5 per cent people in Israel are involved in agricultural activity but that country's fruits, flowers and vegetables are being exported. Isarel has set a target for earning 0,000 from flower export before Valentine's Day,'' Mr Kelkar, who returned here recently after studying Israeli farming techniques, told UNI.

Pointing out that all this was being made possible by proper rainwater harvesting and computerised community farming through the medium of committees, he added that Israel's dry climate led to drip irrigation being adopted 25 years back.

''Tomatoes abound there besides oranges, lemons, vegetables, wheat and gram,'' said Mr Kelkar who was part of last month's delegation led by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

UNI