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GREEN-seeds.com:
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HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH IN ISRAEL: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
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A. Erez, I. Spharim and S. Shalhevet
A. R. O., The Volcani Center
P.O. Box 6
Bet - Dagan, 50250
Israel |
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Abstract
The developmental stages of the Israeli modern horticulture may be divided
into 5 phases as follows:
1st phase: Establish easy to handle fruit products: wine grapes and almonds
, late 19 century.
2nd phase: Establish citrus orchards in irrigated land for export mostly,
Early 20 century.
3rd phase: Widening the variation of fruit crops for local consumption and
part for export: mostly after 1950.
4th phase (present): Reduced profitability of export and increase of local
demand led to increase in production for the local market on the expense
of export. Opening of the markets to importation leads to improvement in
production efficiency. As of the late 80ies of this century.
5th phase (future): Concentrating on niche markets with a high return for
specialty product for export and local market, reduced labor involved in
horticultural crops. In the local market, increased efficiency due to competition
from other countries.
1.The history of the Israeli horticulture
1.1. Introduction
Israel was established 50 years ago but agricultural research has started,
in then Palestine, 75 years ago. The belief that for development of modern
agriculture there is a need to invest in research was the motivation of
the establishment of the first Agricultural Research Station in Rehovot
in 1923 by founders of the agricultural research in this part of the world.
Although this land was one of the most stormy in the world and went since
then through many wars, a rapid development in agriculture and horticulture
has led to a rapid expansion and diversification of the crops grown.
1.2. Stages of Horticultural development in Israel
 The first phase: Establishment
of modern horticulture has started with the efforts to grow almonds and
later wine grapes by French technology. These efforts established the wine
industry in Israel. The reason for promoting these crops was the notion
that with limited transportation means and with limited local demand, dry
almonds and wine could be relatively easily be exported with no major losses.
Also, these two crops could be grown with no or with limited added irrigation
and thus were fit to the initial stages of fruit development in this country
in the end of the 19th century (Lowe 1966).
The second phase: The
breakthrough in modernizing horticulture came with the introduction of irrigation.
Irrigated crops started about 100 years ago with the development of citrus
growing in Israel. Introduction of irrigation was possible only in location
where water was easily available. Water was found in the shallow coastal
aquifer and was used for irrigating the sandy loam soils in the coastal
plain. But the need for more water led to exploitation of harder to get
water resources, and to establish water transfer plants to long distances.
New dry areas in the southern part of the country, that were not used for
agriculture, were open to development by water transport.
Citrus fruits, especially
grapefruit and lemons, were first introduced to Israel around 1000 AD. The
first quality oranges were first produced only around 1850 when export of
Shamouti (locally selected cultivar) oranges to Europe has started. Export
of citrus to Europe led to increased research and development in expanding
varieties, rootstocks and improved propagation means (Openheimer 1955).
For the immigrants arriving
to Israel in the beginning of the 20th century, agriculture was the only
possible way of survival. Many of the immigrants were highly educated and
motivated people that developed new forms of agricultural settlements and
introduced many innovative ideas, including in development of horticulture.
The third phase: A new
era of horticultural development started after the establishment of the
state. New and vigorous plantations in the fifties and sixties led to revival
of the citrus industry and reestablished Israel as an important exporter
in the European market. Side by side with the citrus revival, new fruit
species were expanding rapidly. Deciduous crops that were grown to a limited
extent were planted in large areas. New subtropical and tropical species
were introduced and a few were established successfully like avocado, persimmon
and mango. A success story was the establishment of bananas for local consumption
in specific areas under intensive irrigation and fertilization. Wide introduction
of date palm plants established a strong industry that opened the market
to export of dry or semi-dry fruit. In addition, expansion of vegetable
crops to whole year supply was developed rapidly by utilizing warm regions
in winter and by growing winter crops in polyethylene greenhouses and tunnels.
The ability to produce vegetables in the warm valleys of Israel in the winter
led to an establishment of an export effort of winter vegetables to Europe
describing Israel as the "greenhouse of Europe". But even with vegetables
most of the production was aimed at the local market.
Till the early fifties,
ornamental horticulture was very small. Later on, efforts were put in establishing
this horticultural branch. As of the eighties, increased interest led to
a concentration of efforts that led to a rapid expansion of this horticultural
branch by introducing of many new species and by production of off-season
flowers under tunnels and greenhouses mostly for the export market. Importation
and domestication of new ornamental plants from all over the world as well
as breeding new varieties were an integrated part of the development. In
a short period of time, Israel became a major producer and the 3rd world
exporter of ornamental crops mostly of cut flowers but also of propagated
material and pot plants. Similarly to vegetable crops, Israel had the advantage
of relatively good growing conditions in winter especially under protected
cultivation. So the main effort in ornamental production was shifted to
export during the winter season.
2. The present Israeli horticulture
In a country of dense
population and little arable land, intensive horticulture was emphasized
at the expense of field crops. Today, horticultural produce constitutes
half of the total agricultural production.
Past experience teaches
that industries, organization and firms do not last for ever. Their decline
usually caused by failure to adapt to the changing socio-economic, technological
and political environment. The environment relevant to horticulture is going
through a process of a major change that presents an unprecedented threat
(see table 1). The question is how to cope with the changes and survive?
History shows that horticulture
did respond to changes, but its reaction time is long and sometimes the
adjustment period is very painful. Planning horticulture's response in advance
can reduce the time and pain involved.
3. Options of response
3.1 Possible reactions to the most likely scenario
Israeli horticulture will have to react to the scenario proposed in Table
1. In the following manners:
- Redefining the business of horticulture.
- Specialization: Changing the product mix and the target markets.
- Adaptation: Changing the production technology and the products to fit
the new environment.
3.2. Redefining the business of agriculture
Agriculture is usually defined as the "production of food and fibers." We
propose to define it as "harnessing biological systems to the benefit of
man." This definition will give us more room to implement the capabilities
of agricultural research, production and management.
3.3. Specialization
The world is going through
a period of globalization, which is manifested in many ways. Here we will
deal only with lowering the political barriers that impede the trade in
goods. These barriers will be diminished as the result of GATT and other
trade agreements. The political barriers may vanish, but the logistic barriers
on fresh bulky products will still remain. (The logistic barrier includes
the time that passes on the way from the sender to the receiver, and the
costs of transporting fresh agricultural produce.)
Specialization will
cause some horticultural branches to rise and others to decline according
to the relative advantage.
In the following sections
we identify the relative advantages of products in countries and predict
the type of specialization that will enable a country to cope with the globalization
process. We will demonstrate this method on a case study of specialization
in our region.
3.4. Specialization in the Middle East region
One of the changes in
our political environment is the opening of the borders between Israel and
the Palestinian Authority to agricultural trade. This change is already
becoming reality, and we believe that eventually there will be open borders
with Jordan, Egypt and perhaps with Syria too. This situation is relatively
simple to analyze, because the physical environment (climate, land, pests)
is similar in those neighboring countries, and there is almost no logistic
barrier between them.
The analysis is based
on the data presented in figures 1 and 2. Fig. 1 describes the pattern of
production factors availability in neighboring countries. Fig. 2 describes
the pattern of production factor intensity of several agricultural products.
Horticultural product
that requires intensive use of certain production factors, will fit in country
where these factors exist in relative abundance. For example, strawberries,
which are labor intensive but require little capital investment and little
use of land and water per unit of output, will fit the Palestinian Authority
or Jordan, where capital is rare, labor is plentiful, and land and water
are scarce.
Table 1: The scenario for Israeli agriculture
| Demographics: |
Increased crowding of the population in the area between
the sea and the desert, which includes Israel, the Palestinian Authority
and Jordan. |
| Technology: |
The long-distance transportation costs of fresh products
will not change significantly.
There will be no revolutions in the usage of inputs (land, water
and fertilizers), so input intensity patterns will remain the same.
At the crossroad between agriculture and new generic techniques
(genetics, information, sensors and control), the revolution is
at the gate.
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| Political Environment: |
The local market will be open to competitors from abroad.
Foreign markets that are now closed will open before us. Government
intervention will gradually decrease. |
| Socio-Economic Environment: |
The "greens" will increasingly see in the modern agriculture
a cause of contamination of food, water and the environment. An increasing
number of consumers will identify the linkage between their health
and the food they eat. |
| Resources: |
The water limitation will be more effective.
Labor availability will decrease while wages will increase.
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3.5. Predicting of specialization
Our approach to identify specialization is demonstrated in a simplified
manner in Figure 3. This approach compares the patterns of production factors
availability in countries with the pattern of production factor intensities
in a few horticultural products. A given country will specialize in a product
that it's pattern of production factors intensity will fit the country's
pattern of production factor availability. This example shows that Israel
will specialize in Melons, Jordan in strawberries and Morocco in Citrus.
3.6 Adaptation
The following guidelines have a bearing on adaptation:
- Differentiating The Product: Product differentiation can give the local
producers a competitive advantage in specific market niches. One of the
means of achieving differentiation is by viewing agriculture as a link on
the value added chain from the producer to consumer, including the retailers.
Adjusting the product to the retailers' needs can provide agriculture with
a competitive advantage. Fitting the retail marketing outlets to the special
characteristics of the fresh and bulky agricultural products can provide
an additional advantage.
- Environmental Products: In a densely populated country such as Israel,
agriculture is not a mere external supplier of goods to the city, but an
important part of the urban system. Viewing agriculture and the city as
one system, where agriculture serves as the city's "environment", will change
the role of agriculture, as well as its political environment. In this context,
agricultural produce will be not only fresh fruits and vegetables, but also
environmental products such as fresh air, open spaces and scenery. Most
of these "environmental products" are public goods whose allocation in a
free market does not correspond to society's needs. Where the market allocation
fails, social organization is needed.
4.0 The role of horticultural research
Horticultural research can take part in two ways: (1) The research can predict
in advance the course of horticulture development and direct itself accordingly.
(2) Horticultural research can serve as a catalyst for a major change development
course of the branch
4.1 Can "The Tail Wag The Dog?"
Many technological opportunities were found at the crossroad between mature
industries and new generic techniques. Such opportunities lie now on the
crossroad between agriculture and generic techniques in the areas of molecular
genetics, sensing and information. Horticultural research can exploit these
techniques to participate in the invention of the "Different Agriculture"
the profile of which will include less land, water and labor, and more brain
power and capital. A very high value per unit of weight will make the logistic
barrier negligible. This horticulture will not produce fresh fruits and
vegetables, but rather a variety of valuable intermediate products to be
used by other industries as raw materials.
4.2 Horticultural Research
For targeting research
in horticulture, a preview of future development is needed. Prediction of
development especially in a dynamic world is difficult and in many past
cases was found not accurate. For Israel it seems that with a reasonable
certainty one may suggest the following (Sepharim 1997):
Changes will take place
in crops grown as well as in new sophisticated ways of production.
When comparing availability
of means of production between Israel and other potential competitors in
the Mediterranean basin, Israel has advantages in investment and in agricultural
know-how while it has limited resources in water, land and cheap labor.
Many of its competitors have limited investment but abundance of land, water
and cheap labor. This will lead to loss of the competitiveness in many commodity
items mostly in open field. Vegetables, strawberries, certain ornamental
crops and other labor-intensive production that do not need high investments,
may not stand competition. On the other hand, in specialized items Israel
will maintain its advantage over competitors and will further develop them.
Such specialized products will be special quality with regards to appearance,
taste or health value, or specific timing of availability of products in
the market (out of season) like greenhouse grown cherry tomatoes, or late
winter stone fruits, new special cultivars like seedless grapes or citrus
fruit with new fruit characteristics, or new cut flowers not seen before.
But even this approach
is not immune to changes as competitive countries may buy the know-how and
find investors to start a high-investment project that will utilize their
advantage in cheap labor to compete successfully. This leaves research to
look for new developments that will open new niches for another limited
period in the world market. The rapid development in the molecular biological
field opens unprecedented possibilities for producing new specialized products
having unique characteristics. No doubt this line of activity will be strengthened
in the future to produce transgenic plants in all horticultural branches.
Clear advantage in competition
exists in the local market, the presence of the logistic barrier of extra
costs for importing products from other countries benefits the local producers,
the contrary is true for exporting goods. This will lead to an increased
preference of targeting horticultural products to the internal market especially
as this market is going to expand markedly due to a rapid increase of population.
Another development
will be needed to supply the demand for keeping of rustic environment around
urban centers. Research in gardening and rural architecture will have to
increase to supply this demand.
References
Lowe Y. 1966. Agriculture in Israel till the end of the British mandate.
In Encyclopaedia Hebraica 6:820-837.
Openheimer. H. 1955. Growing Citrus trees. 295 pp. Hassadeh publishing Co,
Israel (In Hebrew(
Spharim I. 1997 Israeli Agriculture in a changing environment. Hassadeh,
no. 7, April
© WCHR
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