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The Indo-Israel Centres of Excellence (CoE) in Haryana, developed in collaboration with the West Asian nation, have significantly boosted horticulture productivity in the state since their establishment, increasing fruit and vegetable yields by 37 per cent between 2010 and 2024, while the area under horticulture has risen by 13 per cent during this period, officials said.
In Haryana, the area that cultivates fruits, vegetables, spices and flowers has increased from 3.64 lakh hectares in 2010 to 4.12 lakh hectares in 2024, officials said. Productivity has also increased from 12.07 metric tonnes (MT) per hectare in 2010 to 16.56 MT per hectare in 2024.
The figures were released during a meeting between Israel’s Minister of Agriculture Avi Dichter and his Haryana counterpart Shyam Singh Rana at the Indo-Israel Centre of Excellence for Vegetables in Gharaunda, Karnal on April 9.
Officials consider the growth in horticulture production significant, keeping in view the state’s proximity to Delhi, which also offers excellent marketing channels for the state’s produce.
Over the past decade, the Haryana government has been making efforts to implement a Beijing-like model to provide fruits, milk and vegetables to Delhi just like China had developed the peri-urban agriculture zone around its capital. Former state agriculture minister Om Prakash Dhankar had visited China in 2015 to study the Beijing model. Dhankar, who is currently the BJP’s national secretary, believes that it is easier to provide fruits, vegetables and milk to Delhi from Haryana than from far-flung areas of the country.
Eleven Centres of Excellence are currently functional in the state to promote horticulture. These centres focus on protected cultivation, micro-irrigation, and high-quality seedling production and help farmers to adopt modern techniques. In the current financial year, the state government plans to establish three new centres of excellence in Ambala (litchi), Yamunanagar (strawberry) and Hisar (date palm).
Last month, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini pointed out similarities in the climate and land of Israel and Haryana. “The technology there is most useful for us. Therefore, we are adopting Israeli techniques in the field of fruit, vegetable, flower farming and beekeeping in the state,” he said.
An Integrated Bee Development Centre has been established in Ramnagar, Kurukshetra with Israeli cooperation. The Haryana government is also planning to set up a Centre of Excellence for hydroponics in the state with the help of Israel. Hydroponics involves growing plants in an artificial environment without soil and by using water-based solutions.
Saini visited the Indo-Israel Centre of Excellence for Vegetables in Gharaunda during the three-day Mega Sabji Expo-2025 organised in March to educate farmers about new techniques, improved varieties and modern equipment related to horticulture, vegetable production and beekeeping.
The chief minister had then said that farmers have set an example by moving away from the traditional crop cycle and increasing production through innovation and modern techniques in fruit, vegetable cultivation and beekeeping.
Now, the government plans to send a delegation of youths to Israel to learn farming techniques and implement them in the state. Haryana Speaker Harvinder Kalyan, who represents Gharaunda in the Assembly, said educated youth need to be given short-term training at the Indo-Israel Centre of Excellence in Gharaunda where polyhouse farming, drip irrigation, and organic cultivation are demonstrated.
Haryana Agriculture Minister Shyam Rana said, “Due to increasing population, land is becoming limited. In the changing environment, farmers will have to go with the change. The government is ready to help the farmers.”
According to Haryana officials, 140 fruit and vegetable collection and pack houses are being established in the state at Rs 510 crore under the Horticulture Crop Cluster Development Programme. A pack house is a facility where harvested fruits and vegetables are sorted, graded, cleaned, and packed before being sent to markets or processing units. A Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) is also being formed with 300 farmers in each cluster and an integrated pack house will also be established.
A subsidy of 50 per cent to 85 per cent of the cost per acre is given on planting fruit orchards. Subsidies ranging from 50 per cent to 85 per cent are being given on the integrated model of vegetable farming and from 40 per cent to 85 per cent for mushroom farming.
Arjun Singh Saini, head (special), state Horticulture Department, said Haryana also has plans to launch a nine-year-long sustainable horticulture project with an outlay of Rs 2,700 crore under Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funding.
“The project aims to establish over 400 spokes – small collection and distribution centres – for aggregation and redistribution of horticultural produce, linked to a major international horticultural hub being set up at Ganaur. This initiative is designed to strengthen organised supply systems, enhance farmers’ incomes, and boost the agrarian economy of the state,” he said.
Horticulture in Haryana
| Crop | area (in lakh acres) |
| Fruits | 1.75 |
| Vegetables | 8.37 |
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