Mangaluru : The South Canara District Central Co-operative Bank (SCDCC) Limited will send a team of representatives to Israel to study implementation of micro irrigation system crops, SCDCC Bank President M N Rajendra Kumar said on Sunday.

“The team will include representatives from 26 cooperative societies. The move is meant to help farmers in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts overcome the water crisis in the coming years for both, agriculture and horticulture crops,” said the Bank president.

Speaking to mediapersons at SCDCC Hall here, Kumar said that this was the first time that a district cooperative bank was sending its cooperative members on a study visit to Israel.

The State government had sent a group of officials to Israel to implement Israeli model of farming techniques in Karnataka, he added.

“The 26-member team will leave for Israel on June 20 and will stay there till June 26. They will study modern farming system, drip irrigation, visit the agriculture museum and so on,” he said.

The 26-member team will reach Jerusalem from Mumbai, said the president.

“They will visit Israeli Parliament and collect information on modern farming technology,” he said and added that Israel was known for practising farming with minimum water. They will conduct a study on sheep rearing in Bethlehem and also on milk production.

Kumar said the team would also study organic farming, organic farm produce, smart dairy farm, drip irrigation and so on. Based on the report submitted by the team, the SCDCC Bank will decide on sending a second team to Israel, he added.

The team members will have to implement the technology and the farming system they witnessed in Israel back in their village and thereby contribute to increase in farm production and minimise the use of water in farming.

As many as 176 primary agriculture credit cooperative societies coming under SCDCC Bank jurisdiction in the undivided Dakshina Kannada district. Each member travelling to Israel will incur an expense of Rs 1.70 lakh and this will be borne by the SCDCC,  he added.