The Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security acts routinely and in emergency situations, with the aim of maintaining the functional continuity of agricultural production and, consequently, national food security, especially in these days in view of the fighting situation, and will therefore place some 70 additional shields in the agricultural areas of the north, in the Golan settlements near the border with Syria, in view of the recent escalation in this area.

These actions will have a budget of 3.5 million additional shekels that will be used to maintain the safety of farmers and workers, who continue their work in the fields even in difficult conditions. These 70 shields are in addition to the approximately 300 shields that the ministry has been distributing in recent weeks, and to the 1,100 shields that were already placed in the past and that are used by agriculture in the north and south.

The Ministry notes that since the beginning of the war and due to the critical protection gaps that have emerged in the area, the ministry has continued to purchase and place shields for farmers on the southern and northern borders, despite the fact that the issue of protection is not within its scope of activity, but out of a commitment to enable farmers to continue producing food and ensuring food security for the country's residents.

At the same time, as part of the Ministry's activities during the war, Ministry professionals are in continuous contact with farmers in the northern and southern combat zones, with the aim of identifying challenges and difficulties arising in the field, and providing quick solutions while cooperating with other parties.

The shelters will be located in areas where there are concentrations of workers, including foreign workers' residences, dairy farms, poultry farms, packing plants, concentrations of greenhouses and food centers, in accordance with the needs of farmers and the distance from the Syrian border. The ministry explains that the goal is to continue the allocation of protection in areas where there is an escalation of security and were not answered in previous allocations, in order to maintain functional continuity in the agricultural branches and maintain the security of farmers in the north.

Golan, a strategic agricultural zone

And it is that Israel will invest in the promotion of agricultural innovation and the implementation of new technologies in agrotech companies in the localities of the Golan Regional Council and Katsrin, with an investment of NIS 2.6 million, starting in 2024. As part of the support, the Ministry will provide support to agricultural farms in the Golan region in order to expand agricultural production in this area, while developing established agricultural knowledge and technologies, which will lead to agricultural innovation with added regional economic value.

Through this procedure, the Ministry of Agriculture will encourage farmers in the Golan to expand the variety of crops, while specializing in the production of unique and innovative species based on a local advantage over national agriculture. It will also encourage the improvement of crop interfaces and the cultivation of premium, unique and economically viable niche agriculture.

The ministry will support the introduction of technological improvements in agriculture, including: the introduction of innovative mechanization, the introduction of advanced cultivation methods that will allow for increased yields on plots, the use of crops that have a clear relative advantage in advancing or delaying the time of product marketing (early or late season varieties), including crops that have not yet been cultivated in the world, Israel or the Golan Heights. Meanwhile, the ministry will also support the introduction of new varieties and/or the adaptation of familiar crops to the Golan Heights, developments to save water, labor, land, production costs, packaging classification and more. The ministry will also support the development and implementation of practical crop tools and knowledge-based technologies to reduce pesticides as part of the “Green Golan” program, based on a regional knowledge base in the field of plant protection. The subsidy percentage will be 60% of the approved investment. In addition, the scope of the maximum investment recognized for a producer who is an agricultural cooperative association (kibbutz or cooperative settlement) will amount to approximately NIS 500,000 and the scope of the maximum investment recognized for an individual producer will be NIS 250,000.

Ministry of Agriculture Vice President for Investment and Finance, Yossi Steinberg said: “The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is working to expand agricultural production in Israel, and will invest in infrastructure to establish model plots for the rapid implementation and promotion of crops and technologies whose development process has not yet matured, by supporting investments to be made in the areas of the Golan Regional Council. We see great importance in promoting and developing different agricultural areas, with unique characteristics and economic viability. We believe that this will also attract more young people who will be able to enter the different branches of agriculture.”