ISRAEL

Executive Summary

The gross agricultural production in Israel (2002) was about US $3.2 billion. The export of fresh products was about US $620 million, ca. 4.1% of the total export from Israel. The Israeli agriculture is a high-input and export-oriented agriculture. To maintain profitability, high yields, high qualities and the best possible prices at the marketplace should be obtained. Production expenses are high mainly due to the high cost of irrigation and the expensive labor.

In large parts of the Middle East, semi-arid and arid conditions prevail in many agricultural areas and fresh water resources are limited. Hence, supplementary irrigation during the winter is commonly needed due to uneven rain-spread or lack of efficient rains. In the spring and the summer seasons full irrigation is needed to ensure yield and quality. Naturally, the most important constraint on Israeli agriculture is the limited resources of water.

The major field crops in Israel are wheat, cotton, sunflower (confection), sweet corn, peas (processing), chickpeas, groundnuts (peanuts), watermelon for seed (confection), beans, tomatoes for processing and forage crops. Out of 400,000 ha of arable land, about 175,000 ha were sown with field crops in 2001/2002.

Cotton is the major non-food crop in Israel. Since its introduction in the 1960's significant advances have been made in the cropping systems, particularly the introduction of fully controlled drip-irrigation with effluent water (85%) and the breeding of higher yielding and higher quality varieties. However, the constant drop of prices in the international markets in recent years, especially of the Acala type, lead to about 60% reduction in the area of cotton grown in Israel. The area of cotton was 9,600 ha in 2000, 14,500 ha in 2001 and 11,600 ha in 2002, almost entirely drip irrigated with Israeli-made equipment.

Jojoba is grown in the southern parts of Israel in arid regions. In recent years, due to advances in growing methods and the planting of elite material bred and selected in Israel, the crop is successful and profitable. Future increases in production depend upon the demand for the special jojoba wax, mainly by the cosmetics industry.

The export of fresh spice crops is another important segment of the Israeli agriculture. Many spice crops are believed to have beneficial effects on the health and well-being of humans, leading to increased demand and reasonable prices. The crops are grown under cover to obtain high quality year round. The main crops are basil, chives, mint, rocket and tarragon. Further developments depend on the expected demands in international markets and the prices that prevail in these markets.

Due to the small size of the Israeli market, the export of agricultural products is essential. The production of high quality products is of great importance in order to obtain high prices in the marketplace. To achieve that, the greater part of the R&D is aimed at the improvement and sophistication of the cultivation procedures and at the breeding of new-improved varieties. In addition, the increasing awareness of consumers to farming in an environmentally-sound way, promotes the development of farming which is compatible to the environment.