KKL- JNF Southern Arava R & D Center Yotvatah

Written and photographed by Nahum Eisenstadt

Our first stop of the second day of touring with CAARI 2012 was the KKL-JNF Southern Arava Research and Development Center at Yotvatah. Amnon Greenberg, a member of Kibbutz Yotvatah and General Manager of the facility showed us some of the more impressive experiments that have yielded great results and improved the yields of garlic, pomegranites and dates. The bottom picture shows Amnon explaining to CAARI 2012 about the pomegranite trees in the background that are evergreen all year round and do not loose their leaves. Amnon has the green hat on and is shown in the bottom picture as CAARI listens attentively. This was the first facility in the 1960's to develop the drip irrigation and now it has developed a system which the plants use water only when they demand it using a uniquely devloped system of feedback and control and sensors that react when the plant needs to be watered.