Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday inaugurated the Centre of Excellence for Vegetables at Khetri in Kamrup (Metro) district under an Indo–Israel Agricultural Project.
Spread across 66 bighas, the facility houses a 1,200-square-metre fan-pad greenhouse equipped with climate and humidity control systems, soil-less cultivation technology and a boom irrigation mechanism capable of producing 4.5 lakh high-value vegetable seedlings per production cycle.
Sarma said the inauguration marked a significant day for the state’s agriculture sector, reflecting the “strength of Indo–Israel cooperation by bringing together Israel’s advanced agricultural expertise and Assam’s fertile landscape and hardworking farmers”.
The event was attended by Ambassador of Israel to India Reuven Azar and Assam agriculture minister Atul Bora, among others.
Farmers visiting the centre will be introduced to new irrigation practices and modern techniques that can be adopted on their own farms, Sarma added, noting that the technology will “allow farmers to control irrigation remotely through mobile phones or computers, ensuring timely delivery of water and nutrients to crops”.
More than 600 farmers have already been trained at the centre. Sarma said the facility has already produced over 7 lakh seedlings of crops such as papaya, tomato, which have been distributed free of cost across nine districts.
The Centre sanctioned ₹5.84 crore for the project in 2020–21, while the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART) provided an additional ₹60 lakh for land development and related works.