Hundreds of SA farmers find out how Israel’s agri-tech can help them

YOLANDI GROENEWALD

But Israel has managed to develop into an agricultural powerhouse in a region where water is one of the most precious commodities. Its unrivalled array of desalination and wastewater treatment plants and irrigation techniques have helped its farmers not only to adapt, but to flourish as well.

A seminar in Kempton Park on Tuesday exposed about 300 South African farmers to Israeli agricultural innovation. Hosted by the Israeli Trade Office and Farmer’s Weekly magazine, farmers were informed about the latest trends and innovations in agri-technology.

Israel’s trade commissioner in South Africa, Amit Lev, told the SA Jewish Report that the development and adoption of Israel’s water and agriculture technologies sprung out of necessity.

He believed that the larger-scale farming so prevalent in South Africa would give it more of an advantage than Israel if the government could get its water management right.

Lev said that 15 years ago, with Israel struggling to provide water to its citizens, it became a commodity that had to be managed strictly, including how to price it. “It took time to get the management right and to build the infrastructure needed. How to price water came with experience.”

He said the new tariff increases in the Mother City had brought its water tariffs more or less on par with those of Israel.

Just a few years ago Israel, a country which is two-thirds arid, was able to declare an end to water shortages that had been dogging the country for years. Its agriculture moved away from water-intensive crops and became a world leader through drip irrigation.

Lior Keinan, Israel’s ambassador to South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mauritius, said that agriculture made up 2.5% of Israel’s gross domestic product, but that Israel was able to feed its citizens on its own.

“We are able to meet 95% of our food needs, while exporting our products all over the world,” he said. “This, despite an area that is only 20% of the size of the Kruger National Park being used for agriculture.”

Keinan said Israel had far fewer resources than South Africa when it came to farming, but that an investment in technology has served it well.

“We used technology to bridge those miserable starting figures.Today we are the leading country in managing water,” he said, adding that 70% of Israel’s drinking water is “artificial”. About 90% of the country’s wastewater is cleaned and used in agriculture, with Spain next in line out of the 35 member states belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, with 17% to 18%.

Israel’s water loss is also the lowest in the world by far, with just 8% at most of water lost in municipality infrastructure.

Israel’s agricultural success has continued despite a five-year crippling drought in the region, although its farms have not escaped the drought’s repercussions scot-free. The country is facing its fifth consecutive winter of depleted rainfall.

Zohar Ben Ner, the founder and chairperson of Subplant – an online platform designed to collect real-time sensor data from farms and provide actionable feedback to farmers – said farmers have had no option but to use even less water.

Up to now Israel has been able to produce all the drinking water it needed from five desalination plants it has on the Mediterranean coast, but the drought has forced farmers to cut down on water usage.

While an additional plant is under discussion by government, its likely price tag of $400 million (R4.7 billion) makes using even less water a cheaper alternative.

Ben Ner advocated a data-driven solution where datasets are used to predict how much water each plant needs during the different cycles of the crop.

“Without the data, farmers are not only wasting water, but also wasting production,” he said. “We designed a system that could deliver precise irrigation, that spoke to the needs of the plants.”

Data has already indicated that farmers who employ the new techniques have bigger yields while using much less water, he explained.

Ben Ner’s system, called Growth-Based Irrigation, uses electronic probes to monitor plant growth, soil moisture and climatic conditions. Using algorithms, the programme then calculates when exactly to water the crops and how much water to give. When crops are in distress, a notification is sent to farmers.

First adopters of the technology have reported a 30% saving in water and a 5% increase in yield. Peach farmers were able to use 48% less water.

Ben Ner expressed the belief that so-called big data irrigation had the potential to decrease 10% to 20% of irrigation water usage globally.

The system has already been put to the test in the drought-stricken Western Cape – at Marlenique Estate near Franschhoek, which farms peaches and lemon trees.

Ben Ner said although the concept could not be fully tested given the fact that water had dried up completely during the test phase, data had shown that the farm would be able to reduce its water usage significantly while still delivering bumper crops.

But it is not only on water saving and farming techniques that Israeli technology is pioneering. Shalom Ben Or of Tel Aviv-based software company Avenews-GT said the new technology, Blockchain, is also paving the way for farmers to access markets in a safe way.

By providing a digital trading platform based on blockchain technology, Avenews-GT enables verified agribusinesses, farmers, co-operatives and commercial agri buyers to transact directly with each other locally and worldwide. This reduces distribution costs, creates financial security and increases supply chain transparency, Ben Or said.