Agricultural Research In Israel
Encyclopedia
The Agricultural Experiment Station established in 1921 developed into the Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), widely known as the Volcani Institute
Volcani Institute of Agricultural Research
The Volcani Institute of Agricultural Research is an agricultural research center in Beit Dagan, Israel.The Volcani Institute is named for its founder and director for 30 years, Yitzhak Elazari Volcani. It was the first agricultural research institution in Palestine. It began as an agricultural...
. The Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
, Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...
, Bar Ilan University, Ben Gurion University of the Negev and the Weizmann Institute of Science
Weizmann Institute of Science
The Weizmann Institute of Science , known as Machon Weizmann, is a university and research institute in Rehovot, Israel. It differs from other Israeli universities in that it offers only graduate and post-graduate studies in the sciences....
also engage in agricultural research.
History
Dry farming on a subsistence level was practiced in the Land of IsraelLand of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
for over 2000 years. The forerunners of agricultural research in Palestine were the teachers and instructors of the Mikveh Israel
Mikveh Israel
The name Mikveh Israel may refer to:* Mikveh Israel, agricultural school and village in Israel* Congregation Mikveh Israel, Philadelphia, United States* Congregation Mickve Israel, Savannah, Georgia, United States...
agricultural school, established in 1870. The pioneers of many of the early farming settlements cultivated experimental plots supervised by an agronomist. Arriving in the country with little or no previous agricultural experience, this kind of experimentation was vital for the development of such crops as grapes, citrus and almonds. Arab agriculture revolved primarily around dry farming, with barley, chickpeas, sesame and olives predominating. The few German Templer
Templer
Templer is an English surname, and may refer to:*Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer 1898-1979.*James Templer, an early British military pioneer of balloons...
villages were based on relatively large farms of dry farming of wheat and barley.
In 1906, Jewish agronomist Aaron Aaronsohn
Aaron Aaronsohn
Aaron Aaronsohn was a Jewish agronomist, botanist, and Zionist activist. Aaronsohn was the discoverer of wild emmer , believed to be "the mother of wheat."-Biography:...
discovered wild emmer
Emmer
Emmer wheat , also known as farro especially in Italy, is a low yielding, awned wheat. It was one of the first crops domesticated in the Near East...
(Triticum dicoccoides), believed to be "the mother of the wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
.
After the Balfour declaration by Great Britain in 1917 and the award of the mandate to Palestine by the League of Nations to Britain, the Jewish Agency established in 1921 the Agricultural Experiment Station. Their mission was to conduct research leading to small farms with intensive agriculture, specializing in mixed farming of fruit trees, cattle, chicken, vegetables and cereals. The research station, headed by I. Elazari-Volcani and located in Rehovot, was the first scientific institute in Palestine. It had departments for crop sciences, fruit and citrus, soil and irrigation, entomology and plant pathology, post-harvest, food technology and farm economics. The station had an extension department and results of its research were quickly passed on to the farmers. Yields of grain under dryland conditions increased from 600 to 5000 kg per hectare; and breeding and selection of cattle increased milk production from 800–1500 kg to 5000 kg/cow/year (1950) {now more than 11.000 kg/cow/year- 2005}. Research in storage of citrus fruit reduced spoilage during shipping to Europe due to fungal rots from 30% to 2-3%.
In 1942 the Hebrew University in Jerusalem decided to establish the Institute for Agricultural Studies, which later developed into the Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences. In the beginning the faculty staff came mainly from the Agricultural Experiment Station and students worked on their theses in the laboratories of the Station.
The British government also established a small agricultural research department with several stations in both Arab and Jewish areas. After 1948, with the establishment of the State of Israel, the two research stations were merged into the Agricultural Research Station within the Ministry of Agriculture. However, the extension and advisory service, previously part of the research station, now became an independent branch within the Ministry.
In 1960 an attempt was made to merge the Agricultural Research Station with the Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University, to form the "National and University Institute of Agriculture." The idea was based on the US model of the Land Grant Colleges
Land-grant university
Land-grant universities are institutions of higher education in the United States designated by each state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890....
). This attempt failed, mainly because the basic working conditions were not equalized before the merger. Nevertheless, a close cooperation exists between the two institutions. The senior researchers of the Agricultural Research Station serve on the teaching staff of the Faculty and students from the Faculty do their research for M.Sc. and Ph.D. theses at the Research Station.
With the growth of the various disciplines in the Agricultural Research Station and the establishment of regional research stations, the organizational structure has changed over time. The Agricultural Research Organization (ARO) was established in 1971, incorporating all agricultural research within the Ministry of Agriculture.
Agricultural Research Organization (ARO)
The job of the ARO is to help the development of the Israeli agriculture by an efficient use of the limited water resources, development of crops for export markets, ensuring a decent income for the farming community, developing and adapting crops and technologies for newly settled regions without polluting the environment. Within the ARO are six institutes, two commodity (Plant and Animal Sciences) and four discipline oriented institutes (Plant Protection, Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Technology & Storage of Agricultural Products and Agricultural Engineering). The ARO has two additional research centers – GilatGilat
Gilat is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the western Negev desert between Beersheba and Ofakim, it falls under the jurisdiction of Merhavim Regional Council. In 2007 it had a population of 965.The moshav was founded in 1949 by immigrants from Tunisia...
, in southern Israel and Neve Ya'ar in the north.
Within the six institutes the various scientific departments cover all agricultural disciplines except veterinary sciences. In addition to the Institutes the ARO maintains a computer unit, Genomics and Bio-informatics section, technology transfer (engaged in business related activities), international activities, youth activity units and a library.
The Veterinary Institute of the Veterinary Services of the Ministry of Agriculture is also located on the central campus of the ARO.
Public-funded research
The present main objectives of the public funded research are: Supply of fresh food products all the year around at reasonable prices; increasing exports of agricultural products; strengthening the farming community at the periphery of the country; increasing production and income of farmers; efficient use of the limited water resources and precision agriculture. These goals require development of new products and cultivars, improvement of food quality and safety, functional food, integrated pest management (IPM), precision agriculture and farming efficiency, with agricultural technologies friendly to the environment.The fund of the Chief Scientist is open to scientists from all institutions – ARO, universities, regional research organizations, extension specialists and farmers.
In addition to the Chief Scientist’s fund the various commodity branches, as vegetables, flowers, fruits, dairy cattle etc. also allocate research funding of direct interest to them. The Minister of Agriculture, upon recommendation of the Chief Scientist, appoints the committee members for research in each commodity branch. In general a third of the members come from the scientific community, a third from the extension service and a third are farmers. The proposals submitted to the commodity branches also undergo the scientific evaluation process.
A substantial source of funding, mainly for more basic research, comes from bi-national funds. The leading one is The United States - Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD). BARD is a competitive funding program for mutually beneficial, mission-oriented, strategic and applied research of agricultural problems, jointly conducted by American and Israeli scientists. Since 1979, BARD has funded over 870 research projects, with awards of about $9.5 million annually for new research projects. Most of these are of three years duration, the average award being $300,00. Budgets are distributed about equally between the two countries. Proposals are evaluated both in the US by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and in Israel by the Scientific Evaluation Committees (SEC), based on expert reviewers from different countries. The recommendations from ARS and SEC are brought before a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) for final recommendations to the Board of BARD. Among the research areas funded were: Alleviating Heat Stress in Dairy Cattle, Breeding for Heat Tolerant Wheat Varieties, Improving Wheat-Seed Proteins by Molecular Approaches, Algal Culture and Improving Cut Flower Quality to name only a few where significant results were obtained (BARD, 20 year external review). The success of BARD led to the establishment of additional bi-national funds as the Joint Dutch-Israeli Agricultural Science and Technology Program, a bi-national Program with Queensland (Australia) and Canada. The latter are all on a much lower funding level than BARD. In addition funding is also obtained from the EU, The US – Israel Bi-national Science Foundation (BSF) and others.
Universities
The Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences of the Hebrew University in Rehovot is a major partner in the conduct of agricultural research. In the Faculty, which includes Agricultural economics and management, a School of nutritional sciences and hotel, food and tourism management are about 90 tenured scientific staff. The major scientific disciplines are: Agricultural Botany; Field Crops, Vegetables and Genetics; and Horticulture; Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition; Entomology and Plant pathology; Soil and water sciences; Animal sciences; Veterinary medicine and Agricultural economics and management. Additional research is carried out at Bar-Ilan UniversityBar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University is a university in Ramat Gan of the Tel Aviv District, Israel.Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is now Israel's second-largest academic institution. It has nearly 26,800 students and 1,350 faculty members...
, Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...
, the Weizmann Institute of Science
Weizmann Institute of Science
The Weizmann Institute of Science , known as Machon Weizmann, is a university and research institute in Rehovot, Israel. It differs from other Israeli universities in that it offers only graduate and post-graduate studies in the sciences....
, and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is a university in Beersheba, Israel, established in 1969. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has a current enrollment of 17,400 students, and is one of Israel's fastest growing universities....
, whose Jacob Blaustein Institute specializes in arid-zone agriculture
Arid-zone agriculture
As an area of research and development, arid-zone agriculture, or desert agriculture, includes studies of how to increase the agricultural productivity of lands dominated by lack of freshwater, an abundance of heat and sunlight, and usually one or more of extreme winter cold, short rainy season,...
.
Regional research centers
Several regional research centers are operating, the major ones being the Northern R&D, Southern R&D and the Arava valley R&D. They are partially funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Jewish Agency and Jewish National FundJewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...
. Researchers from the ARO, the Faculty of Agriculture, Ben Gurion University and others are actively involved in research projects carried out within the Regional R&D canters. A senior researcher from the ARO generally acts as the scientific director in each regional center, and an ARO scientist coordinates all regional research. Their main goal is to direct the agricultural branches in the region into profitable channels by improving existing crops and developing new technologies and crops. Applying and transferring techniques developed by their R & D and other research institutes by means of model farms and an active extension service. Increasing efficiency in use of fresh and treated water; and improving the general professional level of local farmers. In the Arava valley, for example, studies are conducted on new varieties of melons, tomatoes, peppers, fresh herbs, strawberries, dates, flowers, flower-seed production and harvesting, aquaculture, livestock, fodder crops, and jojoba beans, a year-round cash crop used in the production of cosmetics and lubricants.
Achievements
The ARO and its forerunner, the Agricultural Research Station, have helped to turn Israel's “mixed farming” system into a highly industrialized enterprise focused on export to Europe. Serious water shortages have led to the use of low quality and recycled water. Some 44% of the water used for agriculture comes from recycled water without lowering quality of the produce.Exports to Europe include fruits (citrus, avocado, grapes), vegetables (sweet peppers, tomatoes, potato, melons, sweet potato), ornamentals (cut flowers, potted plants, propagation material) and herbs. In 1997, agricultural export (fresh and processed) reached over $1.329 billion - approximately 6.4% of the country's total exports (Source: Central Bureau of Statistics). This has necessitated an ongoing search for new products, niches in seasons and better storage technologies. Major achievements included an increase in productivity of fruit, vegetable and field crops with a reduced input of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Efficiency in dairy farming has increased milk production to one of the highest in the world: over 10,200 litre/cow/year.
In 2010, Jonathan Gressel of the Weizmann Institute received the Israel Prize
Israel Prize
The Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
for agricultural research. The prize committee chose Gressel, who is internationally known for his work in plant biotechnology, for breakthrough research in molecular structures that has major implications for the development of weed killers.
See also
- Benjamin Elazari VolcaniBenjamin Elazari VolcaniBenjamin Elazari Volcani discovered life in the Dead Sea and pioneered biological silicon research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.-Biography:...
- Agriculture in IsraelAgriculture in IsraelAgriculture in Israel is a highly developed industry: Israel is a major exporter of fresh produce and a world-leader in agricultural technologies despite the fact that the geography of Israel is not naturally conducive to agriculture. More than half of the land area is desert, and the climate and...
- Economy of IsraelEconomy of IsraelThe economy of Israel is a technologically advanced market economy, including a rapidly-developing high-tech and service sectors. As of 2010, Israel has the 24th largest economy in the world, and ranks 15th among 169 world nations on the UN's Human Development Index, which places it in the category...
- Drip irrigationDrip irrigationDrip irrigation, also known as trickle irrigation or microirrigation or localized irrigation , is an irrigation method which saves water and fertilizer by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either onto the soil surface or directly onto the root zone, through a network of valves,...