Download Overview of the Agriculture Technology Applied Research

Israel Agricultural
Research and Development:
Challenges and Opportunities
Overview of Israel Agriculture
Technology Applied Research
Landscape
Yuval Eshdat
Chief Scientist Office
Ministry of Agriculture
& Rural Development
The State of Israel
Oct 30th,2014, ISERD, Tel Aviv
Constraints of Israeli Agriculture
 Shortage of water resources
 Scarcity of precipitation
 Two thirds of the land area defined
as semi-arid or arid regions
 Shortage in “On farm labor”
 Complex geopolitical environment
 Distance from the export markets
 All are very “good reasons” not
to have agriculture…
All are very “good reasons” not to have agriculture… but:
Israel had to be an independent producer of its food since its
creation, thus such necessity became the mother of innovation
These constraints compel
Israeli agriculture to:
 Ensure a high degree of self supply, we faced
“Food Security” already 65 years ago – not only now!
 Guarantee advantage with constant novelty
 Advance KBBE to develop and improve intensive
production technology which meets economic
profitability criteria
Ein Yahav: past and present
Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development
[MOARD]
MOARD Main Objectives 2014
 To ensure continuous supply of fresh &
healthy agricultural products for the local
market, at cost-effective prices for both
consumers & farmers
 To develop novel production technologies,
minimize inputs and maintain a sustainable
green ecological agriculture
 To promote inhabitation of rural areas by
providing means for adequate income
MOARD agricultural R&D is aimed to help in
achieving the Ministry objectives
MOARD Chief Scientist's major goals are:
 to identify obstacles that prevent reaching
the Ministry goals due to knowledge gaps
 to determine research objectives aimed to
bridge such gaps
 to fund such target-oriented research
activity and to monitor research performance
 to bridge between the obtained scientific
data and its implementation
 to plan the agricultural R&D strategy
Current Research Priorities & Areas
Supported & Controlled by MOARD Chief Scientist Office
Designated Thematic Goals
• Improved animal production and aquaculture
• Food safety & quality; organic farming
• Animal & plant protection
• Horticulture & ornamental plants: quality improvement & new varieties
• Efficient & safe water management (potable; brackish; recycled; desalinated)
• Sustainable and ecological agriculture; Alternative pest management
• Shelf-life improvement of fresh agricultural products
• Reducing man-power needs by novel technologies (engineering and
biological)
The Chief Scientist Office
Ministry of Agriculture
& Rural Development
Current Research Priorities & Areas
Supported & Controlled by MOARD Chief Scientist Office
Cross-border Thematic Goals
• Facing agricultural threats associated with global & local:
- Climate change
- Food security crisis
- Alternative energy
• Precision agriculture (ICT = Information & Communication Technologies)
• Agricultural biotechnology and its legal and societal regulation
• Market-oriented novel agricultural products
• Economic, marketing and rural development policy
The Chief Scientist Office
Ministry of Agriculture
& Rural Development
Current Research Priorities & Areas
Collaborative Funding
Major joint venture R&D of MOARD with other funding bodies
• Agricultural ecology and forestry (KKL-JNF, Water Authority)
• Biodiversity and Gene Banks (Plants & Zoological)
• Improving agricultural-related energy use and production
(Min Energy & Water)
• Production of innovated agricultural products by the private sector
(Min Economics)
• Plant genomics assisting future agriculture; ICT; Veterinary;
Mediterranean Agriculture; Industrial Biotechnology;
Joint Program Initiative on Food & energy Crisis & Climate change
(ERA-Nets of the EU Commission)
• Mission oriented fundamental research – BARD
(US-IL Agricultural Bi-National fund)
The Chief Scientist Office
Ministry of Agriculture
& Rural Development
Other major funding bodies
involved in agricultural research
•
•
•
•
•
•
BSF – US-IL Bi-national Science Fund
ISF – Israel Science Foundation
GIF – German-Israel Fund
BIRD – US-IL Bi-national Industrial Fund
MOST – Ministry of Science & Technology
Bi- and multi- lateral funds such as Horizon 2020
The supported projects by these funds
include fundamental & industrial research
not necessarily related to MOARD objectives
The Chief Scientist Office
Ministry of Agriculture
& Rural Development
Agricultural R&D Sites & Players
‫לשכת המדען הראשי‬
Extension Services
Governmental Research Inst.
High Education Institutes
Agri. Res. Org. (ARO)
Regional R&D Centers
Regional Experimental Stations
Volcani Ctr.
Gilat Ctr.
Neve Yaar Ctr.
Veterinary Res. Inst.
Land & Ocean Sci. Org.
Other Research Centers
Applied Research
Basic Science
Chief Scientist International
R&D Policy:
 Positioning Israel as a worldwide leading center for
agricultural R&D and resulting know-how
 Strengthen the international position of Israel while
using it’s reputation and cutting edge technologies
 Promoting advanced, novel and
efficient agricultural
R&D in Israel
 Promoting the involvement of
the agricultural industry
in international projects
Relative advantages of the Israeli Agricultural
R&D
 Experience in multidisciplinary R&D activities with
proven abilities to develop agricultural know-how
 Ability to solve up-to-date agricultural problems
 Knowledge and experience in intruding new products
and technologies into agricultural practice
 Ability to perform high-tech R&D projects for
Tomorrow‘s Agriculture
 Israel agriculture as a worldwide “beta site”
Israel as a worldwide
R&D Beta Site for
Multidiciplinary Projects
Multidisciplinary R&D activities in the Food Crisis Project
Breeding for
high yielding & disease
& stress tolerant
cultivars
Food Security
Postharvest: Food
losses and packaging
Multidisciplinary R&D activities in the Global Worming Project
Drought tolerant
new cultivars
Climate Change
&
Global worming
Fertigation
Thank you for
your attention
Dear guests and collaborators, good Afternoon
As a representative of the current chief
scientist of the Ministry of Agriculture & Rural
Development, who apologizes for not being
able to be here today, I welcome you to this
meeting and wish you a fruitful day.
I will concentrate in my talk on the Agricultural
and its derived R&D activity of this ministry,
which is the major public funder of Israel
agricultural research.