India to help Ethiopia develop agriculture

India said in Addis Ababa Tuesday it will help Ethiopia develop its weak agriculture.

Indian Ambassador to Ethiopia Gurjit Singh said in a news release that a high-level delegation from India, led by Minister of State for Agriculture Consumer Affairs for Public Distribution of India Kanti Lal Bhuria, has arrived in the Horn of Africa country.

The aim of the visit was to increase bilateral co-operation between Ethiopia and India in the agricultural sector, said Singh.

He said India was one of the few countries that produced a food surplus, impressive given the billion plus population, and had done so by making use of modern techniques, including making use of fertilizers and irrigation.

The Indian delegation would share their experiences with Ethiopia in order to help the country achieve similar successes, including strong growth, in the agricultural sector, said the Indian diplomat.

Agriculture trade between the two countries was currently skewed in favor of India. In 2004/05 India exported 5.79 million U. S. dollars, while only importing 2.34 million dollars back from Ethiopia.

Ethiopia has been desperately trying to capitalize on its favorable climate and soil conditions by modernizing to boost agriculture production. However, the country has struggled to deal with the mechanical and skills backlog that would allow it to frog- leap the development that took developed countries decades to achieve.

Source: Xinhua