Strawberries in the desert: From drip irrigation to vertical gardens, Utah officials learn how Israel does more with less water (2023)

FAQs

What has been the effect of Israel's use of drip irrigation? ›

The invention also reduces the impact of drought and climate change on food production. In terms of efficiency, drip irrigation has an efficiency of 95-100% when it comes to water use, which is phenomenal when compared to other methods (such as sprinkling) which reach 85% efficiency at best.

The concept of creating a plastic drip irrigation system was of an Israeli engineer named Simcha Blass. This system was revolutionary in the sense that it greatly reduced water wastage or increased water use efficiency in agriculture.

Israel invented drip irrigation, a technology that has spread rapidly since its introduction in the 1960s and which is widely touted as a key way for countries to close their water gap and be more adapted to climate change.

Finally, the desert area that occupies parts of Israel is the Negev Desert. Unlike some deserts, this one produces crops through extensive irrigation.

Water Recycling.

The national water authority built water treatment systems that recycle the water from drains to use for agricultural irrigation. Israel now recycles 86% of its drain water, the most in the world, with Spain a distant second at 19%.

Supply of tap water in Israel is mainly based on groundwater pumping (mountain and coastal aquifer), surface water (Kinneret lake, springs and rivers) and desalinated seawater (Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea).

The primary source of water for the country is the saltwater of the Mediterranean Sea. Desalination plants, using chemical-free reverse osmosis, produce fresh water for the increasing population.

Israeli company Netafim invented modern drip irrigation technology in the 1960's. This allowed the precious and scarce water resources of the desert to be used at extreme limits to grow crops.

Through Israel's tertiary treatment processes, recycled wastewater is cleaned to near drinking-quality levels before reaching crops to avoid contamination. The goal is to recycle 95% of wastewater for agriculture by 2025, leaving that much more fresh drinking water for the communities that need it.

Flood and Furrow Irrigation

Flood irrigation is much less water-efficient than other systems and can waste a good deal of water if the fields aren't level, which allows water to run off into local water ways.

What is the new technology for farming in Israel? ›

Automato Robotics is creating an automated workforce for greenhouses. Controlled from a single platform, these robots can harvest, spray, pollinate and inspect indoor crops such as tomatoes. Tevel Aerobotics Technologies is piloting (no pun intended) its Flying Autonomous Robots that pick fruit in orchards of any size.

Mekorot (Hebrew: מקורות, lit. "Sources") is the national water company of Israel and the country's top agency for water management. Founded in 1937, it supplies Israel with 90% of its drinking water and operates a cross-country water supply network known as the National Water Carrier.

Problems with Irrigation

Poorly-drained irrigated land leaves behind salt deposits as water evaporates. In many places, fields that once grew bountiful crops of grains are now encrusted in salt. More than a quarter of the world's irrigated land has become so salty that many crops will no longer grow there.

The best type of irrigation for desert plants is a drip irrigation system. Drip lines lose little water to evaporation and run-off. While designing your irrigation plan think about grouping plants according to irrigation needs.

Drip irrigation systems are ideal for desert plants because they apply water slowly and deeply to a plant's root zone, which allows dry desert soil time to absorb water that would otherwise evaporate or run off.

The country now draws and desalinates 75 percent of its drinking water from the Mediterranean Sea. And where the US reclaims just 4 percent of its wastewater for agricultural purposes, Israel repurposes nearly 90 percent.

Tap water in Israel and throughout the world contains magnesium in various concentrations. The magnesium content in the tap water changes from one location to another, and also according to the water supply. “Hard” water (rich in minerals) contains more magnesium than “soft water” (low in minerals).

The reliable water source provided by Gihon Spring was important to Jerusalem's early development.

The largest of the three, the Sorek plant, treats 80,000m³ of waste water (50% of the waste water produced in Jerusalem) every day, flowing from the western basins. Inaugurated in 1999, the treatment plant at the Sorek Valley has a planned capacity of 100,000m³ a day.

Over the years, Israel has implemented centralized water planning andreal pricing, appointed regulators, educated citizens to conserve water, desalinated sea water, used drip irrigation and treated nearly all of its sewage, recycling it for crops.

What is Israel main natural resources? ›

Mineral resources include potash, bromine, and magnesium, the last two deriving from the waters of the Dead Sea. Copper ore is located in the ʿArava, phosphates and small amounts of gypsum in the Negev, and some marble in Galilee.

The Ministry of Health recommends drinking tap water. Tap water in Israel is everywhere safe for drinking. If, despite this, you have decided to install a water treatment device in your home or place of business, make sure that: The device meets the Israeli Standard (Israeli Standard 1505)

The most important groundwater resource shared by Israelis and Palestinians is the Mountain Aquifer. It underlies the central mountain ridge stretching along a north-south axis for some 150 km through Israel and the West Bank.

The Hadera seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant in Israel is the largest seawater desalination plant in the world.

Events. The narrative concerning Marah in the Book of Exodus states that the Israelites had been wandering in the desert for three days without water; according to the narrative, Marah had water, but it was undrinkably bitter, hence the name, which means bitterness.

Afforestation

If done correctly, tree planting can reverse desertification by supporting the earth as plant life grows its roots into the sand, and helps to create a cycle of nutrients that nourish the soil. Israel is the only country over the last 100 years to see a net gain of trees.

The planting of Yatir Forest, now the largest forest in Israel, started in 1966. It was created at the insistence of Yosef Weitz, a principal visionary of KKL-JNF to use trees to roll back the desert. His single-mindedness gained Weitz the affectionate title “the father of forests”.

Israelis have made up for their lack of natural resources because: They have developed strong technology companies in their economies. The industry that the government of Saudi Arabia heavily control is: The oil industry.

Safe and Clean Drinking Water

The water regulations in Israel are among some of the most advanced in the world, ensuring clean tap water. However, a water filter can also be utilized to ensure you are drinking the best possible water.

Disadvantages of Drip Irrigation System

Plastic tubes affect soils fertility. Sun degrades plastic sometimes and that affect soil and fertilizers too. Tubes get clogged sometimes. Water cannot pass through and roots get dehydrated.

What is a major problem with drip irrigation? ›

One of the main problems with drip irrigation is blockage of the emitters. All emitters have very small waterways ranging from 0.2-2.0 mm in diameter and these can become blocked if the water is not clean. Thus it is essential for irrigation water to be free of sediments.

Q. Which country is known for most effective use of drip irrigation? Notes: Most of the credit for making drip irrigation what it is today goes to Israel and South Africa where it is most efficiently used.

Due to the diversity of the land and climate across the country, Israel is able to grow a wide range of crops. Field crops grown in the country include wheat, sorghum and corn. On 215,000 hectares of land, these sorts of crops are grown, 156,000 hectares of which are winter crops.

$166 billion (2022 est.) Cut diamonds, refined petroleum, pharmaceuticals, machinery and equipment, medical instruments, computer hardware and software, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel.

The Sorek desalination is the world's largest seawater desalination plant. Sorek plant was built on the Mediterranean coast, about 15km south of Tel Aviv, Israel. The Sorek facility features 16in membrane elements installed in vertical pressure vessels.

Early next year, Israel is set to become the first country in the world to channel desalinated water into a natural lake — the Sea of Galilee. One of the lowest-lying bodies of water on Earth, the Sea of Galilee is Israel's largest freshwater lake and its emergency water store.

Currently, the national average energetic and financial cost of production per cubic meter of desalinating water in Israel is respectively, 3.5 kilowatt hours and US 65¢. The most recent tender was priced at US 52¢ for the Sorek facility (150 MCM/year).

Excessive irrigation can affect water quality by causing erosion, transporting nutrients, pesticides, and heavy metals, or decreasing the amount of water that flows naturally in streams and rivers.

Response of precipitation and evapotranspiration to irrigation. As a result of increased evapotranspiration associated with vegetation growth, desert irrigation increases global average precipitation, especially in and around the irrigated areas.

What are 3 disadvantages of irrigation? ›

Vegetation, birds, and insects can all mean a nearby water source. Fruits, vegetables, cacti, and roots all contain water and mashing them with a rock will release some liquid. Water flows down, so check low terrain. Canyons and mountain bases could be home to a water source.

Some desert plants store water in their leaves, stems, or roots. Others have thick, waxy skin that helps prevent water loss. Some desert plants have small leaves that help reduce evaporation. Others have deep taproots that help them reach the underground water sources.

Flood irrigation is not the most efficient irrigation method, but it is cheap and low-tech. On the one hand, less water is lost to evaporation than in spray irrigation, but on the other hand, more water can be lost from runoff at the edges of the fields.

Drip irrigation is one of the most efficient methods for delivering water to crops with minimal waste. Currently, it is used on less than 2 percent of irrigated land in the world but it can reduce water use by 30 to 70 percent.

Moat and dhekli are traditional methods of irrigation and are cheap.

Israel's Netafim, the world's leading drip irrigation company, has developed a potentially world-changing drip system for rice aimed at replacing the traditional system of flooding. Netafim revolutionized global agriculture by being the first to bring modern drip irrigation to the world in the 1960s.

A well designed drip irrigation system benefits the environment by conserving water and fertilizer. A properly installed drip system can save as much as 80% of the water normally used in other types of irrigation systems. Water is applied either on the surface, next to the plant, or subsurface, near the root zone.

At the Ein Gedi oasis, in the Judean Desert, abundant archaeological remains of agricultural irrigation systems are found that were fed only by spring water and used to irrigate the fields that were on the agricultural terraces.

Disadvantages of Drip Irrigation System

Plastic tubes affect soils fertility. Sun degrades plastic sometimes and that affect soil and fertilizers too. Tubes get clogged sometimes. Water cannot pass through and roots get dehydrated.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of drip irrigation? ›

Advantages: Low costs and operating on very low-pressure systems, such as gravity flow drip systems fed by water from rain barrels. Disadvantages: Clogging up easily and poor water distribution uniformity compared to other emitter types.

Drip irrigation has several other advantages. In addition to water, plant roots also need air and when soil pores are completely flooded, roots can actually “suffocate.” The slow application of water by drip systems virtually guarantees a good soil/water environment with a balance of water and oxygen in the soil.

Water slowly drips onto the crop roots and stems. Unlike spray irrigation, very little is lost to evaporation and the water can be directed only to the plants that need it, cutting back on water waste.

Drip and sprinkler irrigation, among other practices and technologies, make farm water use less energy/fuel intensive and conserve significant amounts of freshwater.

The primary source of water for the country is the saltwater of the Mediterranean Sea. Desalination plants, using chemical-free reverse osmosis, produce fresh water for the increasing population.

Tap water in Israel is everywhere safe for drinking. If, despite this, you have decided to install a water treatment device in your home or place of business, make sure that: The device meets the Israeli Standard (Israeli Standard 1505)

Field crops grown in the country include wheat, sorghum and corn. On 215,000 hectares of land, these sorts of crops are grown, 156,000 hectares of which are winter crops. Fruit and vegetables grown include citrus, avocados, kiwifruit, guavas and mangoes, grapes from orchards located on the Mediterranean coastal plain.