Agricultural Research in Israel

Israeli agricultural research links government institutes, universities, regional centers, extension services, farmers, and private companies. Research findings are tested in the field and communicated through extension networks, while problems encountered by farmers are returned to scientists for investigation.[1] The Agricultural Research Organization–Volcani Institute is the largest institution in this network and reports six research institutes, two regional centers, approximately 180 research groups, hundreds of research programs, and around 300 scientific articles annually.[2]

The field's major contributions include irrigation and water-management systems, crop and livestock breeding, postharvest technologies, biological pest control, dryland agriculture, and data-driven farming. These programs developed in response to scarce water, limited cultivable land, and extensive arid and semi-arid areas, but many of their technologies have subsequently been transferred abroad.[3][4]

Organized agricultural research in the Land of Israel dates to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when Zionist settlement efforts created practical demand for scientific guidance. The Mikveh Israel School was established in 1870, providing an early foundation for agricultural education.[5] In 1921, the Zionist Organization established the "Institute for Biological and Natural Sciences – Agricultural Experiment Station" at Ben Shemen Farm.[6] Agronomist Yitzhak Elazari-Volcani — also known as Wilkanski — was the principal force behind the station's establishment and directed it until his retirement in 1951.[7][6]

Elazari-Volcani articulated a guiding philosophy for the enterprise. In a 1933 report presented to the XVIIIth Zionist Congress, he argued that methods from other countries, even those with similar climates, could not simply be relied upon. Agricultural research had to be systematically adapted to local conditions through trials that could require years, particularly for fruit trees.[8] He wrote: "Agriculture in its first beginnings was an art that was traditionally passed on from the father to the son. Today it is an art and a science at the same time. And without research one will not move forwards at all."[8]

Wilkanski's program for the Agricultural Experiment Station had three pillars: research, extension, and teaching. The station focused on research and extension from its establishment, while teaching was formally added in 1942 with the founding of an adjacent Institute for Agricultural Studies.[6] Its offices and laboratories moved to Tel Aviv in 1922, while field experiments continued at Ben Shemen, Gevat, Deganya, Merhavya, and other sites. The Biological and Natural Sciences component moved to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1928, and the station's offices and laboratories moved to Rehovot in 1932.[6]

The 1933 report also called for chemistry and bacteriology research on production quality and agricultural by-products. It described a laboratory at the Agricultural Research Station in Rechoboth funded by the Israel Sieff endowment and run by Chaim Weizmann.[8] The report proposed a four-year agricultural course — two years of biology at the university in Jerusalem followed by two years of agricultural instruction at the Rehovot station — but presented the program as a plan still requiring establishment and funding.[8]

During the Second World War, disrupted citrus exports prompted a shift toward field, vegetable, and fruit crops and animal products for local markets. The change brought prosperity to Jewish farmers and generated substantial research activity at the station.[6] The knowledge gained helped the Jewish agricultural sector operate farms and supply food after the 1948 War of Independence and during the arrival of more than one million immigrants.[6]

In 1951, an agreement divided the Rehovot station's property and personnel. The Hebrew University Faculty of Agriculture assumed responsibility for teaching, while the station became a government research body.[6] It was renamed the Volcani Institute for Agricultural Research in 1963 and restructured as the Agricultural Research Organization in 1971.[6]

A defining feature of Israeli agricultural research is its integration with farmers and extension services. An extension-service system passes research findings to farmers for trials and implementation, while problems identified on farms are brought back to scientists for investigation.[1] This circular structure helps keep research priorities connected to practical farming challenges.

At a 2023 conference on Arab-Israel-Africa partnerships, Danielle Abraham described the model as a "Golden Triangle" connecting research and development, agricultural extension services, and the private sector, with farmers at the center.[9] She said extension services train agricultural workers, the private sector is essential because agriculture must operate as a business, and farmers can approach leading academics directly about crop problems. In her account, government funds scientific development and facilitates interaction among the participants.[9]

Abraham illustrated the model with winter basil cultivation in northern Israel. Growers needed sufficient overnight warmth but considered energy-based heating too expensive.[9] Farmers and extension scientists placed water-filled plastic bags between crop rows so the water would absorb daytime heat and release it at night. When that proved insufficient, they arranged the bags as a fence — creating what Abraham called "walls of water" — which raised temperatures and helped support a thriving basil market in the north.[9]

At the same conference, Eran Doron said agricultural research and development had historically concentrated on crop development but had shifted during the preceding five years toward technology and efficiency. He also described growing international demand for Israeli expertise in desert agriculture and for connecting farming with technology, startups, and high-tech industries.[9] Dr. Hosni Guedira named the Weizmann Institute and Hebrew University of Jerusalem as potential research partners and described the Hebrew University as having "one of the most advanced schools for agriculture."[9]

Regional research-and-development centers extend this model geographically. Established in the early 1980s to assist farmers in particular regions, eight such centers were reported nationwide in 2020.[10] Northern Israel's center covers 18 regional councils, operates 10 research farms, and conducts more than 100 studies annually. Findings are distributed through publications and field visits by instructors, and the center was reported to have an annual budget of NIS 18 million funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, KKL-JNF, and farmers' crop boards.[10]

The Ramat Hanegev R&D center, established by its regional council in 1981, similarly conducts applied research whose results are passed directly to farmers. One example is research helping desert growers determine suitable combinations of fresh and brackish water for their crops.[11]

The Agricultural Research Organization, commonly known as the Volcani Center, is the institutional anchor of Israeli agricultural research. An independent affiliate of Israel's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, it describes itself as the country's largest agricultural research institute and one of the leading institutions of its kind worldwide.[12][2] Its mission is to lead agricultural research, development, and technological innovation in cooperation with partners, with a vision of sustainable, climate-adapted, data-driven, and precise agriculture.[2]

Six research institutes operate at the main campus in Rishon LeZion: Plant Sciences; Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences; Animal Science; Plant Protection; Postharvest and Food Sciences; and Agricultural and Biological Engineering.[2] The organization also operates the Neve Yaar research center in the Galilee and the Gilat research center in the Negev. These centers include field schools and pilot sites intended to test agricultural practices under different climatic conditions.[13][14]

Neve Yaar conducts work on cattle, orchards, plant genetics, aromatic and medicinal plants, weeds, biological pest control, entomology, soil, water, the environment, and organic agriculture.[14] Gilat focuses on agriculture at the edge of the desert, crop-growing systems, soil and water conditions in the Negev and Arava, and crop diseases and pests. Its facilities have included plant-disease diagnosis and specialized oil, flour, and soil-quality laboratories.[14]

Volcani reports approximately 180 research groups, hundreds of research programs, around 300 scientific articles published annually in international journals, and about 350 graduate and postdoctoral researchers supervised by its scientists.[2] In a 2018 interview, then-director Eli Feinerman described the institute as a hub for research and collaboration across northern and southern Israel. He reported that 300 master's and doctoral students worked in institute laboratories under the joint guidance of Volcani and university researchers.[15] The institute collaborates with researchers at the Hebrew University's Faculty of Agriculture, Tel Aviv University, and Bar-Ilan University.[15]

The Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences conducts interdisciplinary basic and applied research through two departments: Environmental Physics and Irrigation; and Soil Chemistry, Plant Nutrition and Microbiology. Its work addresses soil-health practices, water-management tools, irrigation platforms for different water qualities, and the optimization of soil and water use for safe and sustainable agricultural production.[16]

Applied research at the Volcani Center has provided a basis for startups and companies while addressing immediate problems faced by Israeli farmers and broader questions involving food security and climate adaptation.[17] The organization has also been described as responsible for planning, organizing, and implementing most of the country's agricultural research.[12] A 2014 Ministry of Foreign Affairs profile reported that it provided roughly 70 percent of Israel's agricultural research.[13]

The wider research network includes the Hebrew University's Faculty of Agriculture and other institutes, professional and marketing associations that fund research, government funding bodies, and private biotechnology and software companies.[18]

Drip irrigation is among the most internationally influential products of Israeli agricultural research. An account in the Jewish Review of Books recounts that Simcha Blass noticed one tree in a row growing much taller than its neighbors and found a tiny leak in a metal irrigation pipe near its base.[19] Suspecting that steady drops were reaching the roots and stimulating growth, he began experiments in 1959 that confirmed the approach's feasibility and usefulness.[19] Other accounts credit Blass with conceiving the idea and his son with developing the physical dripper.[4]

Netafim developed its drip-irrigation system on August 8, 1965, at Kibbutz Hatzerim in the Negev.[20] The system delivers low-volume drips through tubing placed in greenhouses or fields, providing a practical means of watering crops in an arid region. Netafim subsequently operated in more than 150 countries.[20] Drip systems deliver water and, through fertigation, fertilizer uniformly from emitters on irrigation pipes, concentrating supply near the root zone and enabling the use of saline water or treated wastewater under appropriate conditions.[4]

Studies cited in an Israeli water-development account estimated water-use efficiency at approximately 95 percent for drip irrigation, compared with 75 percent for sprinkler irrigation and 45 percent for surface irrigation. The measure is defined as the ratio of water taken up by a plant to the total amount applied.[4] A 2016 review reported that widespread adoption of drip irrigation contributed to a 1,600 percent increase in the value of produce grown by local farmers over the preceding 65 years.[21] Israeli irrigation technologies have also been reported to reduce water consumption by up to 60 percent and increase crop yield by up to 90 percent in water-stressed communities.[22]

Water recycling has become an important complement to irrigation efficiency. The 2016 review reported that recycling 86 percent of Israeli sewage supplied 50 percent of the country's irrigation water.[21] A Library of Congress report summarizing an OECD assessment described Israel's comparative advantage in agriculture as "induced" rather than natural, based on knowledge and technological progress in arid-condition farming.[23] Historically, the share of cultivated land that was irrigated rose from 15 percent, or 37,500 hectares, in fiscal year 1950 to approximately 54 percent, or 237,000 hectares, in fiscal year 1984.[24]

Ongoing research continues to refine irrigation science. Ben-Gurion University's soil physics and irrigation laboratory combines low-input agricultural techniques, greenhouse-protected high-value crops, and frequent drip irrigation. It uses models and measurements of water flow, solute transport, and heat transport in the soil-plant-atmosphere system.[25] Its research examines regulated deficits in water and nutrient application, including the working assumption that reduced water application decreases stomatal opening and transpiration while having only a slight effect on photosynthesis.[25]

A BARD-funded collaboration between the Technion and the University of Colorado Boulder investigated UV-LED irradiation to reduce biological fouling in drip systems supplied with treated wastewater. The research found that UV-LED treatment could minimize emitter biofouling, improve irrigation efficiency, and potentially reduce environmental hazards.[26]

Wastewater reuse also presents a sustainability problem. The 2016 review warned that salinization from irrigation with treated effluent can damage soils and crops. It argued that sustainable reuse requires very high-quality treated effluent and should ultimately seek desalination of recycled sewage.[21]

Israeli agricultural research has produced a long record of variety development spanning vegetables, melons, fruits, and grains. Crop breeding dates to the first half of the twentieth century. The Bet Alpha cucumber, introduced in 1936, is identified as an early success, while the Ananas Yoqne'am and Ha'Ogen melons of the 1950s set a global commercial standard.[27] Volcani Institute scientist Harry Paris said of these varieties: "The two melons and the cucumber have had a huge international impact."[27]

The Galia melon, released to market in 1974 by Zvi Karchi and Anneke Govers, became an international commercial success.[27] Angello, described as the world's first seedless bell pepper, won the Fruit Logistica Innovation Award in 2012; its development had begun six years earlier at Israeli seed company Zeraim Gedera.[27] Technological Seeds DM developed the Black Galaxy tomato using a pigment derived from blueberries, while Harry Paris developed the Goldy zucchini, released in 1983.[27] The nectarine-mango developed by Ben Dor Fruits & Nurseries took ten years to perfect before going on sale in Israel, the United Kingdom, and South Africa in June 2012.[27]

Scientific breeding and genetic testing at the Volcani Institute raised the reported average milk yield per cow from 6,300 liters in 1970 to 10,000 liters at the time of the source's publication. Semen and ova from cattle with superior bloodlines were used to improve Israel's herd and share breeding advances with other countries.[1]

Regional research has tested less conventional crops. Northern Israel's research center examined quinoa as a field crop, testing varieties suited to the Hula Valley and Golan Heights and reporting high yields per dunam. Subsequent research found quinoa economical and nutritionally valuable as cattle feed.[10] Research on pruning and shaping plum trees was reported to raise yields from 2–4 tons per dunam to 8 tons per dunam.[10]

More recent crop-improvement work has focused on disease and climate resilience. Volcani researchers led by Prof. Moshe Lapidot developed resistance to ToBRFV, a tomato virus that began spreading in Israel in 2014.[28] Dr. Michal Lieberman-Lazarovich has worked to identify heat-resistance genes in wild tomato species. Researchers had identified genomic segments associated with heat tolerance and planned to combine heat tolerance with virus resistance in varieties used by farmers.[28]

Researchers at the University of Haifa and the University of California, Davis, identified the OPRIII gene cluster as affecting bread-wheat root length. Differences in root growth were associated with yield differences that became more pronounced under drought, pointing toward the possibility of breeding wheat with longer roots capable of reaching water deeper in the soil.[29]

Beyond the Volcani Center, Israeli universities have developed substantial capacity in agricultural science, particularly for arid and dryland conditions. At Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands — part of the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research — conducts basic and applied research intended to support sustainable agriculture where conventional methods are difficult or impossible.[30] Its two broad research directions are the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum under environmental stress and aquaculture.[30]

Dryland crop research addresses drought, high salinity, temperature extremes, and intense light, all of which can reduce plant productivity.[30] Researchers seek to improve crop tolerance to environmental stress, develop biotechnological methods for sustainable production, and find agricultural uses for plants inherently tolerant of dryland conditions. The work draws on plant biotechnology, molecular biology, physiology, ecophysiology, breeding, soil physics, soil chemistry, and micrometeorology.[30]

The institute's aquaculture program has separate microalgae and fish-research components. Microalgae research seeks commercial production of carotenoids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and algal biofuels, using strong solar irradiance, high temperatures, and year-round access to brackish water or seawater.[30] Fish research draws on the large aquifer beneath the Negev and encompasses fish biology, nutrition, and disease. The institute also studies efficient livestock production with reduced environmental impact in drylands.[30]

A 2008 Ben-Gurion University study examined climate-change scenarios for Israeli agriculture through a production-function approach, using wheat to represent the dry southern region and cotton to represent the more humid north.[31] Under projected conditions for 2070–2100, wheat outcomes varied according to climate scenario and nitrogen application. Net revenues became negative under the severe scenario but ranged from a decrease to an increase under the moderate scenario. Cotton yields and economic returns declined substantially in both scenarios, while additional irrigation and nitrogen reduced losses and changing sowing dates did not.[31]

The Israel Journal of Agricultural Research, published from 1950 to 1973/1974 and associated with the Volcani Institute in Rehovot, served as an early vehicle for disseminating research. Volumes 4–11 were the English edition of the Hebrew publication Ktavim, issued by the National and University Institute of Agriculture.[32]

The Negev Research Institute, also known as the Institute for Applied Research, opened its first section in Beersheba on October 31, 1957. Its work addressed the desert region's limited water supply and included solar-energy programs.[33] Its agricultural research facilities included greenhouses, refrigerated seed-storage facilities, and ten laboratories, with nearly 60 scientists, technicians, and student research assistants.[33]

Israeli agricultural research has extended beyond domestic borders through formal and informal cooperation. U.S.-Israeli agricultural cooperation is traced to 1909, when Aaron Aaronsohn — identified as the discoverer of the wild ancestor of domestic wheat — established cooperation between Jewish pioneers in Palestine and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.[34] Informal ties expanded into hundreds of projects during the 1950s and 1960s, supported in part by U.S. Public Law 480 funds.[34]

Sources date the establishment of the U.S.-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund to either 1977 or 1978. The fund was created as a competitive program supporting collaborative research on agricultural problems of mutual interest, with initial contributions totaling $40 million from the two countries.[35][34] Its mission is to bring together U.S. and Israeli scientists to address agricultural and food-production challenges affecting both countries.[35]

Congressional findings in a 2026 Senate bill stated that BARD had approved more than 1,300 research projects and received a total investment of $315 million. The bill attributed a return of $16 for every $1 spent to the fund and said supported research had produced agricultural practices, commercial engagements, patents, and breeding-rights licenses.[35]

BARD's priorities include agricultural-production efficiency; protection against biotic and abiotic stress; food quality, safety, and security; water quality and quantity; genomics and proteomics; sensors and robotics; and sustainable bioenergy.[26] Supported fields include irrigation, pesticides, fish farming, livestock, poultry, disease control, food safety, postharvest practices, and farm equipment.[26]

A BARD-supported collaboration involving the Volcani Center and Texas Tech University identified cell-membrane stability, heat-stable carbon assimilation, and the ability to form grain from carbon reserves in stems as important wheat heat-tolerance traits. Selection for these traits produced elite heat-tolerant lines and knowledge applicable to marker-assisted breeding.[26]

The USAID Middle East Regional Cooperation Program was established in 1981 following the Israel-Egypt peace treaty to facilitate research collaboration between Egyptian and Israeli scientists.[36] Its portfolio included more than 40 active grants at the time of the State Department's publication, including work on climate-resilient agriculture and water-resource management.[36] Israeli research institutes also maintain relations with the FAO for information exchange.[1]

Conference participants in 2023 described the potential for Israeli expertise in desert farming and agricultural technology to be adapted for the UAE and other regional partners.[9] Israeli universities, agribusinesses, and cooperatives have also developed systems and products for export to countries facing water and land shortages.[3]

Israeli agricultural research has generated innovations across farming's core domains. Documented advances include drip and trickle irrigation, shade-house agriculture, aquaponics, mineral-rich fertilizers derived from the Dead Sea, soil solarization, sustained agricultural use of industrial wastewater, genetically engineered seeds, biopesticides, light-degradable plastics, and computerized irrigation and fertilization systems.[1][3] Agricultural biotechnology and climate-controlled growing environments have expanded production possibilities in varied and often harsh terrain.

Postharvest research addresses losses after crops leave the field. The Volcani Center's postharvest team has worked on grain-storage methods and technologies for extending produce shelf life, combining integrated pest management, evaporating oils, limited use of permitted chemicals, and continuous sensor monitoring.[15] Current priorities also include longer postharvest storage, eco-friendly pest control, animal welfare and milk yield, automation and robotics, and the application of data and artificial intelligence to precision agriculture.[2]

Technology is also reshaping field operations. Regional researchers in northern Israel have used drones to identify almond trees on which nuts from the previous season remained, allowing workers to concentrate on areas where pests could carry over rather than inspect entire orchards tree by tree. One hour of drone use was reported to save many hours of labor.[10] Pheromone traps that disrupt insect reproduction provide another precision approach to pest management tested through regional research networks.[10]

A Library of Congress country study reported that the value of agricultural production, measured in constant prices, increased twelvefold between 1950 and 1983. Research, training, improved crop varieties, and better organization were among the contributing factors.[24] During this period, agriculture reduced its workforce while increasing its use of water, fertilizer, and pesticides.[24] The study also observed that all available water resources were already in use by the late 1980s, reinforcing the long-term significance of water-efficiency research.[24]

Public funding and the institutional future of the Volcani Center have generated professional and political dispute. In March 2024, Calcalist reported a proposed NIS 68 million reduction, described as 21 percent of the center's budget.[17] Researchers and agricultural organizations warned that cuts to research spending could disrupt applied research and food-security work, though these were reported concerns and predictions rather than established outcomes.[17]

The proposed relocation of the Volcani Center from its central Rishon LeZion–Beit Dagan campus to northern Israel became a separate contested issue. A 2016 Globes report described the agriculture minister's aims of freeing central land for housing and developing the Galilee, while scientists warned that moving facilities and researchers could disrupt research continuity, technical capacity, university collaborations, and access to agricultural areas in the Negev and Arava.[14] A later report said the 2016 relocation decision was made before the ministry consulted the institute's management, researchers, or academics connected with it.[37]

By November 2024, a different proposal called for retaining the institute in Rishon LeZion while rebuilding the campus on a smaller footprint.[37] The sources describe distinct proposals and competing predictions about their effects rather than an agreed outcome.

Irrigation research has raised a substantive sustainability debate. Drip irrigation and treated-wastewater reuse provide major water-supply benefits, but salinization associated with treated effluent can damage soils and crops. A 2016 review concluded that sustainable reuse requires very high-quality treated effluent and should ultimately pursue desalination of recycled sewage.[21]