India’s West Bengal state government is making plans to export fruits including bananas, lychees and pineapples to Israel, The Statesman reports.
Alon Ushpiz, the Israeli ambassador to India, met with chief minister Mamata Banerjee on 13 June to discuss the planned exports, which include rice and potato.
After the issue is finalised, samples of these products are expected to be sent to Israel within ten days, according to agriculture minister Moloy Ghatak.
Exporting potatoes is anticipated to be of particular benefit to Kolkata’s potato growers, as regional production far outstrips local demand.
Plans are also underway to establish an agriculture research institute in partnership with Israel.
The Agriculture Technological Farm is aimed at conducting research for increasing productivity and improving quality of crops, fruits and vegetables. It will be set up jointly by the West Bengal and Israel governments in Adisaptagram, in Hooghly.
The government has already identified two acres of land for setting up the farm and submitted a detailed project report to Ushpiz today.
