BioTropic visits organic farms in Israel
Last December two of our BioTropic colleagues visited producers in Israel supplying the organic supplier Agro Fresh: Christian Simons, one of the buyers from our Duisburg office and Mauro Finotti, our agricultural specialist from the Italian office. Partnerships cultivated over many years and strict quality controls are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, contacts are consolidated, new ideas are generated and regular discussions ensure that supply chains are transparent.
The producers are SME family-run businesses cultivating between 2 and 5 hectares of land. Red peppers, various types of tomato, cucumbers, mangoes and dates thrive on their smallholdings. These are located on the Mediterranean coast near Aschkelon and further to the west in the rocky desert of the Arabah. Our colleagues took a closer look at the farms there and were rather taken with the professional arrangements on site.
There is little rainfall in this country and consequently the people have found ways of making do with as little water as possible. They use pipe systems above ground to irrigate only the earth where it is really needed. The ecological approach to irrigation was perfected in Israel in the1960s and since then it has been used all over the world.
The fruit grows in greenhouses consisting of plastic sheeting. They serve to protect the fruit from any rain there may be and the increased propensity of fruit to succumb to diseases when they are too damp. Nets are rigged taut over the ventilation windows in order to keep away the bulk of unwelcome insects.
One of the farms they visited is Torem Doron in the arid Arabah valley. Mainly red peppers and tomatoes are cultivated there. The farm has committed itself to using organic methods of cultivation and that is why it uses natural methods of pest control, of course. In this case it uses kissing bugs against the unwanted thrips. These small insects are found almost all over the world and they feed on the cell sap of plants. To offer their competing herbivores, the useful bugs, sufficient space to live, basil is also grown in the green houses in Torem Doron. The bugs retreat there when required.
The Shaul Harel-Abouhatzera Ram farm likewise uses insects: they use bumble bees for natural pollination. Generally a well-known function of bees, but in contrast to them, the hairy bumble bees are not as demanding and are also busy pollinating in cooler temperatures.
Important and key aspects of the visits were discussions on farming systems such as, for example, manuring methods, future cultivation planning etc., and of course, gaining a general impression of the farms.
BioTropic has been working together with Agro Fresh since 2006. The country provides a beneficial climate also making it possible to cultivate sought-after fruit, while Europe is in the grip of cold weather, for example. Israel’s organic farming has seen steady growth in recent years, whereby the domestic market is only experiencing sluggish growth rates. The bulk of ecologically grown produce is exported.
Author: Visnja Malesic
Pictures: BioTropic GmbH
Tags: AgroFresh (GB), Christian Simons (GB), Dates (GB), Cucumbers (GB), Israel (GB), Mangos (GB), Mauro Finotti (GB), Peppers (GB), Tomatoes (GB)
