In recent decades Israel has gained a global reputation for its ability to combine outstanding technological expertise with a freewheeling entrepreneurial spirit and a bold ‘can do’ attitude. The Startup Nation’s high tech innovations are making a mark in fields as diverse as software, fintech and cyber security, defence technologies, medicine and healthcare, environmental protection, and agricultural technologies or AgTech.
The Israeli scientists and researchers who are pioneering the 21st century AgTech industry are building on a foundation of modern agronomy that predates the establishment of the State of Israel. They are harnessing next generation technologies and breakthrough ideas to shape the future of agriculture on a global level - and with it the future of the human race.
That may sound like an exaggeration, until we consider the constellation of stresses and challenges that are impacting the global agricultural industries. Population growth, climate change, and extreme weather events, ongoing wars and conflicts, and unstable commodity and energy prices all place a major strain on outdated farming systems.
Israeli AgTech plays a crucial role in securing the field to fork food supply chain and reversing centuries of environmental damage through the development of sustainable technologies. The goals of Israel’s most talented AgTech innovators are very simple: To feed the world and save the planet.
Why the AgTech market matters to the Israeli economy
The global AgTech market is expected to be worth in excess of 22 billion dollars in 2025. It is expected to expand with a CAGR of at least 10% over the coming decade. Israeli companies are superbly positioned to penetrate new markets and profit from growing demand for sophisticated AgTech solutions.
The Historical Foundation of the Israeli AgTech Industry
The development of Zionism in the late 19th century inspired a deep enthusiasm for agriculture. A new generation of Central and Eastern European Jews rejected traditional concepts of ‘Jewish professions’ and embraced a return to the land. A pioneering technological approach to farming was integral to the establishment of Zionist settlements in Israel.
Following the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948, the need for an agricultural miracle was second only to the establishment of the IDF and military industries. The kibbutz movement, in conjunction with government and private research, adapted existing farming methods to Israel’s varied agricultural landscape and innovated to overcome the challenges of water scarcity and an arid climate.
Israeli agronomists and farmers drained Northern swamps, planted vines on rocky hillsides, introduced new crops, built commercial greenhouses and fish farms - and literally made the desert bloom. The development of Industry 4.0 and rapidly evolving super-technologies is now transforming agriculture through AgTech and creating possibilities and opportunities that the early Zionist pioneers could never have dreamt of.
An Overview of Modern AgTech Innovations
At the heart of field level innovation is the concept of precision agriculture. The adoption and integration of (scalable and adaptable) key technologies can turn a farming enterprise into the agricultural equivalent of a smart factory. Farmers can transform their operations, and significantly reduce operating costs and negative environmental impacts, with a combination of drones, sensors and robotics, smart electric vehicles, predictive AI, and data analysis.
In addition to remote and automated crop monitoring and management, AgTech is delivering transformational innovations in water management through drip irrigation, water recycling, and desalination. Crop nutritional solutions are calibrated to harmonize with irrigation strategies through the use of advanced fertilizers and fertigation and controlled release fertilizers that maximize nutrient uptake. Advances in biostimulant technologies are simultaneously improving plant health and resilience.
Perhaps the most important research in the battle to adapt to climate change and associated extreme weather events is in the field of biotechnology. Genetic engineering and breeding techniques are creating drought and pest-resistant crops that can thrive in adverse conditions. Farmers have the tools and products to implement precision agriculture that is tailored to local growing conditions and markets. AgTech is also providing data-based solutions to help them make informed decisions via new apps and digital platforms.
As global warming continues, the drought tolerant seeds market size is expected to reach $171.4 billion by 2032.
Leading the AgTech Industry Forward: Digital Solutions for Farmers and Agronomists
ICL Group (NYSE: ICL) (TASE: ICL) is a leading global specialty minerals company and one of the largest fertilizer manufacturers in the world. It is also one of Israel’s earliest AgTech pioneers and traces its corporate origins back to the commercial exploration of the Negev Desert in the 1920s. As well as being a major innovator in the fertilizer, biostimulant, and food production sectors, ICL Group operates a number of strategic partnerships across the AgTech Industry.
Agmatix is an agro informatics company that is part of ICL's AgTech digital solutions. Its high tech platforms are designed primarily for agronomists and allow them to make data-informed decisions when they formulate localized crop planning strategies. Another ICL subsidiary that is innovating in the digital agricultural space is GROWERS. Their platforms work to connect stakeholders across the wider food supply chain and enable profitable cooperation and problem solving.
AI driven and cloud based digital platforms and apps (including apps that work offline) are the 21st century equivalent of the old farmer’s almanac, but the mass of agricultural and weather data they access is immense. When they combine digital platforms with other advanced AgTech systems, agricultural professionals can conduct a significant part of their operations remotely - from initial planning through to planting, irrigation, nutrition, pest control, and harvesting - with nothing more than a smartphone.
Israeli AgTech Startups Making an Impact
Israel is the Startup Nation and even the chaos, uncertainty, and trauma of the past year hasn’t dulled the national passion for innovation. AgTech startups tend to get less publicity than their counterparts in other high tech sectors, but companies like Beewise, and BetterSeeds are making profound impacts.
BetterSeeds is based in Givat Chen and is an industry leader in the development of genome-editing technology (CRISPR-Cas9). Their research is contributing directly to sustainability, and efficiency in farming. A choice of modified seeds allows farmers to achieve better harvests on smaller plots of arable land. BetterSeeds also opened a major plant-editing facility in Israel and is creating valuable employment opportunities in the local AgTech Industry.
Beekeeping is an ancient agricultural activity and a beautiful example of a natural circular economy in action. Bees contribute to food production and environmental diversity through pollination, while humans harvest honey as a byproduct. Beewise is an innovative Israeli startup that is taking beekeeping into the 21st century with sophisticated robotic hives and AI-driven automation. Beewise technologies are improving honey yields, while eliminating the use of pesticides and reducing the environmental stresses that harm bees. Israel already produces excellent honey and new technologies can potentially reduce prices and further improve quality.
Few Israelis associate the northern town of Kiryat Shmona with cutting edge technological innovation, but the city is home to Ripe-Guard, a company that is using AgTech to address an unmet need at the retail end of the food supply chain. Ripe-Guard is creating advanced technologies to predict the shelf life of fruit and vegetables. Avoidable waste in the $2.3 trillion fruit and vegetable industry is an ongoing disaster that results in up to 45% of produce being lost to decay. Ripe-Guard’s goal is to optimize the supply chain and improve sustainability by the simple expedient of eliminating wastage.
Israeli startups are punching well above their weight in the global AgTech industry and are helping to provide genuine food security for billions of people worldwide. Israel’s next generation technologies are also contributing to environmental protection, and even the reversal of generations of environmental damage through sustainability initiatives. The Israeli AgTech sector is one of the jewels of the country’s high tech economy and deserves a lot more publicity.
This article was written in cooperation with Tom White