The panel on innovation and impact in Israeli agriculture and industry at the Globes Innovation in Agriculture Conference discussed the future of agritech, the need it fulfils and the role of Israeli high-tech and to end with we asked the participants to talk about the consequences of the war.
Israel Farmers Association president and Israel Business Sector Presidency chairman Dubi Amitai said, “Macroeconomic data show that the manufacturing capacity of Israeli agriculture has been stagnant for the past five years. Taking into account additional trends such as climate change, we draw the conclusion that what has been so far will not continue in the future, and must change. As a farmer who works 500 dunams (125 acres), I control the field through an application with sensors. There is no other choice. We must go all in and increase productivity per acre.”
Netter Center chief innovation officer Doron Meller added, “The story is not 2050 but today. With all due respect to gaming and the Internet, we need a lot more investors’ money because otherwise it will be too late.”
Meller continued, “Agriculture is one of the five least digitalized industries. In Europe, farmers sit with their grandfather’s notebook that tells them how much fertilizer to put on. Technology makes it possible to reduce inputs, and to store carbon in the soil instead of releasing it into the atmosphere, and in addition, there is a worldwide transition from agricultural production from animals to the laboratory.”
Haifa Group VP innovation, business development and marketing Natan Feldman said, “Agriculture is part of the food production chain. We serve 100 countries and the Israeli market is a pilot market that influences technology adoption.
“Today it is possible to analyze a picture and give a diagnosis, thus making decisions based on data and not from a notebook that the farmer sits with. Haifa Group’s feed solutions allow agriculture at a completely different levels, 3-5 times the yield per acre.”
Ministry of Economy and Industry deputy director general policy strategy and planning Michal Fink spoke about the ministry’s investments. “We are establishing infrastructures for the Growing IL ecosystem, which has 6,000 members. There are connections that are required for the business environment, and also physical infrastructures in the periphery, in Kiryat Shmona in food-tech, and in Eilat in marine technology. Further down the value chain, through our Investment Authority we support a micro industry complex.”
Unique challenges
FLORA Ventures founding managing partner Esther Barak Landes is optimistic about Israeli innovation and high-tech. “We have seen in Israel since the 1980s that high-tech is developing, and we are ahead of the world in innovation. As in the past with cybersecurity and fintech, the entrepreneurs are starting to wake up and develop ideas. Today’s market is the agritech market.
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Despite this, there are unique challenges: “Unlike the regular high-tech market, which develops over two years and then brings the product, first you have to understand the needs from the field. It’s not like an application that you develop and you can count on Facebook or Google to acquire you. You need a profitable business model. There are plenty of developments and businesses in the kibbutzim. There is a lot of knowledge, and in Israel we are the heart of agriculture.”
The foundation stones have been damaged
Haifa Group’s Natan Feldman also spoke about the possible benefits of government intervention and used an example from India “10 years ago 70% of the population was engaged in agriculture, today it is 60% and in another 10 years it will be 40%. We need a different concept and amalgamation of land and the specialization made possible by technologies. In Morocco with the help of the World Bank, the government took upon itself to pave massive irrigation channels in desert regions.”
And what about the impact of the war on agriculture?
Amitai said, “The Swords of Iron War has damaged the foundation stones of agriculture in Israel – the ownership and possession of the land and a skilled and accessible workforce. The day after the war, we are required, in cooperation with the government and academia, to develop means and methods that will allow the continuation of work even in extreme events.”
Feldman added, “The situation has created a local acceleration of global trends, the demand for food security is intensifying, the supply is damaged and technology is needed to bridge the gap. The state should intervene and encourage increased productivity in production and technological development. There is also a problem of a lack of people working in picking, and with the help of robotics, this could be greatly eased.”
Meller said, “The main challenge is the lack of skilled workers with the departure of the foreign workers and the potential solution for this challenge is the installation of technological solutions from the world of robotics and automation instead of farm laborers’ hands.”
Barak Landes added, “In times of crisis, conflict and war access to food becomes a critical issue. The war has intensified by tens of thousands the understanding of how important it is to develop the agricultural technologies of the future in order not to be dependent on manpower, and to ensure food security and resources. Agriculture is one of the biggest victims of this war in all parts of the country.”
Fink stressed, “The need to restore and accelerate the economy in the conflict areas only strengthens the relevance of promoting advanced agriculture and the connections between agriculture and industry as regional growth engines, while taking the approach of “building back better.” Various fields such as agritech in Gaza border region and the western Negev and food-tech in the eastern Galilee, are industries that create a complete economic ecosystem that the government recognizes as competitive and deserve to continue and their definition strengthened as regional growth engines.”
Full disclosure: The Conference was held in partnership with Haifa Group
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on January 22, 2024.
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