India: Koppert India demonstration project to be opened this week

Official opening of demonstration project of Koppert Biological Systems in India. On the 17th of April 2013 Koppert Biological Systems will officially open their demonstration project in the use of biological crop protection under protected conditions. This will be done along with Namdhari Fresh Pvt Ltd & FoodTechHolland at the farm of Namdhari in Bidadi, Southern India. During the opening, the first results will be evaluated.

Koppert, international market leader and member of FoodTechHolland, has joined hands with Namdhari Fresh, a leading Indian Fresh produce exporter in demonstrating biological crop protection to meet the international standards on pesticide residue and minimize the impact of pesticides on people and planet.

The relevance of this project is linked to the efforts of the Government of India, promoting integrated pest management and greenhouse cultivation to improve productivity and quality of the fresh produce, thereby driving higher export volumes.

On the 24th of May 2012, a Memorandum of Understanding, 'the Indo Dutch Joint Agriculture working group between India and the Netherlands‘ has been signed, among others addressing knowledge transfer in horticultural practice. This project aims to contribute directly to the emphasis of the Government of India on export of fresh produce and polyhouse cultivation.

The project is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Mr Arie Veldhuizen (Counsellor for Agriculture, Nature & Food Quality India and Sri Lanka) and Mr. Kwint (Program Manager International, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs) will be present during the official opening.

You can read the invitation letter of Mr Arie Veldhuizen here.

Honorable speakers:

Welcome & introduction by Shri Uday Singh (Managing Director, Namdhari)
FoodTechHolland by Mr. Kwint (Program Manager International, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs) & Mr. van Vliet (Partner Larive)
Introduction of Trial program by Mr. Taal (Program Manager, Koppert)
Progress of biological control in comparison to traditional pest control by Mr. Shiva Kumar (Sr. Manager – Production, Namdhari)
Strategy of Koppert by Mr. Robert Pathuis (Director, Koppert)
Indo-Dutch Cooperation and the Dutch Govt. strategy to support India in technology transfer in Agriculture, by Mr. Arie Veldhuizen (Agriculture Counsellor, Royal Dutch Embassy)
Indian strategy for cooperation on technology adoption in plant protection by officials from Plant Protection, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India
Need for biological control in horticulture crops in Karnataka by officials from Department of Horticulture, Government of Karnataka
Vote of Thanks by Namdhari

Source: http://www.foodtechholland.nl/