Desert blooming with tech know-how in Israel

JERUSALEM — Driving through the Negev Desert in southern Israel is more enjoyable than you may imagine. Camel grass, trees of lush palm dates and apricots, and cacti with vibrant fruit dot the dry lands, illustrating unique life resilience.

The desert surrounds parts of the Dead Sea, the lowest land-based elevation on Earth. The waters of the hyper-saline lake are about 10 times saltier than those of the normal ocean, making it harsh for all life and agricultural activities near the lake.

However, not far away from the southernmost tip of the Dead Sea, a wide variety of vegetables thrive in apparent defiance of such unfavorable conditions.

In the greenhouses of the experimental farm Vidor Center, bright-colored peppers, watermelons, berries, onions, aubergines and tomatoes are full of vitality. Scientists regularly conduct innovative agricultural research on the farm, showcasing how vegetables can be planted in arid lands and soil of high salinization.

The soil nourishing the vegetables, which is about 50 to 60 centimeters deep, was transplanted from elsewhere. With drip irrigation and fertigation, or the application of fertilizers or nutrients into a farming system through the irrigation network, the yield is maximized, said Naftali Lazarovitch, a professor specializing in dryland agriculture at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

According to Israeli media reports, drip irrigation waters 75 percent of crops in the country, while only 5 percent of farms worldwide utilize the technology because of technological and financial barriers.

Sensors applied

To save water and achieve digital management of precision farming, a large number of sensors are applied on the ground, with all data unremittingly being uploaded to the cloud, Lazarovitch told a group of international agricultural experts inside a greenhouse with ripe green peppers. The experts had come for a conference held by Lazarovitch's university.

"When the climate is demanding, we need to irrigate differently, and this is one of the challenges here. We use sensors in the soil to estimate the water content in different locations and in this way, it would help us schedule irrigation smartly," he said.

Through mobile phone applications and computers, farmers can always monitor the growth of crops and make timely adjustments, Lazarovitch added.

The unique environment and ecological system around the Dead Sea provide rich samples for agricultural research and attract specialists from around the globe to exchange experiences and delve into solutions to optimize agricultural production.

Unlike the colorful and succulent vegetables in the greenhouses, the heat-resistant date palm trees are more visible near the Dead Sea. Surprisingly, researchers have found that dates grown in the area can be even sweeter, juicier and more aromatic than those in normal dry lands, Israeli date palm tree planting expert Oded Friedman said.

Of course, high-tech methods still make a difference. A closer look at the date palm trees will find that many of them are embedded with tubes parallel to the ground as if they are receiving "acupuncture treatment".

Xinhua