Israel is at the forefront of the field
Israel has a long and proud history of innovation, from biblical times to the modern-day. The country’s agricultural modernization never ceases to amaze, as the sector has revolutionized harvesting, preparation, packaging, and distribution of food. Israel is famous for strengthening the world food security through innovative solutions, as it is one of the most pressing problems facing the future of humanity.
“Once the Israelis excelled at the art of agriculture, there was no way back, forming it as a foundation of their religion and society”
In its early formations, many said Israel is not a natural nor sensible place for agriculture, as the quality of the desert soil is poor, precipitation is a foreign word, and the supply of water is a treasure hunt. Furthermore, Israel’s geographical positioning is such, that vast distances separate it from other vital agricultural markets. However, with every problem comes the necessity to invent solutions. In this process, the nation has established lucrative export markets, revolutionized agriculture and water management on a global scale, and fortified national food security.
Taking a time machine back to the Biblical influences, ground tiling and rearing cattle was part of the daily routine. Once the Israelis excelled at the art of agriculture, there was no way back, forming it as a foundation of their religion and society. Their Lunisolar calendar is strongly linked to the land, celebrating major festivals and events with the first fruits of the season, focusing their cultivation and harvesting of food.
The first innovations took place when the irrigation from mountainous streams enriched the soil, as well as the spread of manure fertilized crops. Back in the Solomon days, some 20,000 measures of wheat were shipped to Hiram exchanging it for timber. Although Israel did face a crisis when the Jewish people started spreading over the globe, in the late 19th century, socialist influences from Russia re-established the Land of Israel as a Jewish nation, with agricultural excellence as a national mission.
“Israel is famous for strengthening the world food security, as it is one of the most pressing problems facing the future of humanity.”
Although evolving ideologies and government action plans have shaped Israel’s agricultural transformations, one mustn’t discount the role of research and development. Massive investments are placed each year into the Agricultural Research Organization, its target, to serve the farmer and the industry as a whole, developing cutting edge technologies to solve real-world as well as local issues. Israel’s agricultural organization has been battling major drawbacks, forming projects against arid conditions, wastewater irrigation, and freshwater aquaculture. Furthermore, in the last decade, some 350 AgTech startups entered the market, collectively raising $300 million in 2019.
With booming innovative technology in the sector, Israel has the highest productivity level of cow’s milk in the world, additionally, it produces the most citrus fruit per hectare in the world, and has an average of 0.05% of grain storage loss, in comparison to the worldwide percentage of 20%.
From early farming practices to the high-tech solutions of the modern age, Israel has undertaken a tremendous agricultural transformation to become a world leader in the field.
By: Mina Vučić
