Georgia: The Minister of Environment and Agriculture of Georgia, Otar Shamugia, along with the Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Amir Ohana, and the Israeli Ambassador to Georgia, Hada Ester Meitzad, visited the Agricultural Scientific and Research Center Tsilkani, where they inspected a modern technology greenhouse built by the Israeli Embassy. The greenhouse was being used for a one-year test demonstration at the center.
The new greenhouse is equipped with hydroponics technology, and its total cost is 95,000 USD. Hydroponics system is an innovative agriculture technology that intends to produce crops without soil.
“Israeli Xeneti speaker is visiting Georgia, whom we hosted at the base of our scientific and research centre. We have a very good cooperation with Israel in the field of agriculture. Over 1600 of our citizens have been trained under the MASHAV programme, and now, with the support of the speaker, we have opened a new greenhouse equipped with modern technologies. The greenhouse will enable our farmers to gain more knowledge about the production of hydroponics technology, which will increase their productivity and generate more income,” the Environment and Agriculture Minister said.
The goal of a long-term project of cooperation between the two countries is to establish a demonstration hub in the whole region where agronomists and experts from Israel, Georgia and neighbouring countries will be able to share knowledge and experience, as well as train students and interested farmers.
“Yesterday, we opened, within the framework of the MASHAV program, a high-tech greenhouse. MASHAV is a programme for cooperation and knowledge sharing with modern technologies. We celebrate the relationship between the two countries that date back 2600 years. This is a great opportunity to work together for a better future. “This is exactly what we are doing here today,” Israeli Xeneti spokesman said.
The greenhouse construction was carried out within the framework of the MASHAV program. MASHAV is an international cooperation development agency of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, established in 1992, after the opening of the Embassy. To date, in Georgia and Israel, MASHAV’s professional training courses have been conducted by more than 1600 specialists from Georgia.
The guests also visited the Soil Research Laboratory named after Professor Ivane Sarishvili at the base of Tsilkani, where since 2017, a complete soil research has been carried out, on the basis of which soil for agricultural activities is evaluated and determined its fertility level.
