Changing Patterns in Israel Agriculture

Haim Halperin

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780367256838
• eBook ISBN: 9781000682274
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Ecology
• Index: Biological Sciences

First published in 1957. This study sought to analyse the problems raised by the changing forces and conditions in Israel in the middle of the twentieth-century. It discusses the impact of Israel's achievement of political sovereignty upon its agricultural economy in the comparatively short space of six years. It examines the agricultural problems that arose as functions of the natural factors of production – land, water, climate, etc. It endeavoured to assess new and better possibilities of farming. This title will be of interest to students of geography and agriculture.

1

AGRICULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF ISRAEL

ISRAEL, though one of the smallest countries in the world, is remarkable for its topographical and climatic diversity. At one stage Israel’s settlement planners, in their desire to secure areas more or less homogeneous, contemplated sub-dividing the country into thirty-four planning regions. (In Israel it is not unusual to find several types of soil within the area of a single settlement.) Agricultural planning at present, however, is being conducted within the framework of twelve districts (comprising twenty-seven sub-districts) into which the country has been partitioned. But even this arrangement has proved unsatisfactory, as in some districts there are areas which though conjacent, are no less disparate than highland and valley.

It is our opinion that the most suitable division for agricultural purposes would be into at least eighteen districts.

The area of Israel is 20,800 square kilometres (8,030 square miles).¹ Within this small area differences in altitude range from 1,208 metres (3,963 feet) above sea-level at Mount Atzmon in Galilee, to 392 metres (1,286 feet) below sea-level at the desolate shores of the Dead Sea and 209 metres (686 feet) below sea-level along the closely settled banks of Lake Kinneret.²

Another indication of the great disparity in natural conditions is provided by the rainfall, which ranges from a maximum of 1,100 millimetres (44 inches) on Mount Atzmon and 700–800 millimetres (28–32 inches) in Central Upper Galilee to 25 millimetres (1 inch) and even less in the desert region of the Negev. In between are the highlands with a rainfall of 600–800 millimetres (24–32 inches), the Coastal Plain with 370–550 millimetres (15–22 inches) and the Southern District within which again there are also wide differences, such as between Asluj—120 millimetres (5 inches)—and Beersheba— 220 millimetres (9 inches), although they are only 28 kilometres apart.¹

¹ Division of Land Survey, Ministry of Labour, Israel Government.

² Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1953/54, Table 1.

The disparity in respect of mean relative humidity—measured over a period of ten years—is also remarkable, as is indicated by the figure for the Jordan Valley—52%—and that for Tel-Aviv—71%.¹

From the geologist’s point of view Israel is a ‘young’ country. Its important strata represent the last 8% of geological time. The basic rock lies in horizontal layers at a depth of 900 metres (3,000 feet approximately.) Mostly, however, the superjacent layers have shifted vertically. The rifts occur from east to west and from south-west to north-west. The greatest uplift occurs in a north-south direction, from the Syrian Plateau southwards by way of the Red Sea to East Africa. Here, along parallel rifts, the central section has subsided to form a strip of varying width, which in Israel has assumed the form of a deep and broad valley, the Jordan Depression. This rift in Israel drops to the lowest altitude on the earth’s surface, some 392 metres (1,286 feet) below sea-level.

It is generally held that in later geological time there existed no outlet for the water of the Jordan Depression other than evaporation, with the result that a vast cumulation of brine, the Dead Sea, was created.

During the same period as the formation of the Jordan Depression a similar process took place in the west of Israel. Layers of soil subsided step-fashion. The outermost western strip slumped beneath the sea. There were also layers which subsided to create cross-rifts. One of these depressions is the Vale of Jezreel, another separates the Judean highlands from the Negev.

Extensive volcanic areas in Galilee were produced by immense earthquakes which formed the existing topography.

The movements shaping Israel’s topography have not ceased. The country belongs to the area of seismic disturbances and as recently as 1927 a serious earthquake occurred.

In addition to geological factors, water, winds, animals and men have all exerted an influence in shaping the physical features of the country, and have co-operated in various periods in destroying the upper layer of soil.

The waves of the Mediterranean created sand-dunes, the winds of the Negev deposited the layer of loess, which was carried here—and is still being carried—from afar. Floodwaters and winds eroded the fertile soil covering the mountain slopes. Men and goats destroyed the grasses and the trees, which had previously checked the inroads of erosion, thereby increasing the havoc.

¹ Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1953/54, Table 2 and others.

Within a comparatively short distance striking differences in the nature of countryside are perceptible, no less indeed than might distinguish diverse countries and climates. Within a matter of hours the traveller passes from the desert with its mirages to verdant citrus groves, from bald, denuded mountains to fertile valleys, watered by sprinklers because the farmers do not wish to rely upon the caprices of the climate.

The agricultural problems which this heterogeneity in nature has begotten are many and complex and each successive generation in this country has sought an adequate solution with the means and the techniques at its disposal.

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

Climatically, Israel can be divided into four clear demarcated zones:

(1) The Coastal Plain, which is warm and humid in summer and mild in winter, with westerly winds blowing from the Mediterranean. Daily and annual fluctuations in temperature are not extreme. Rainfall is adequate, the average over forty years being 611 millimetres (25 inches) on 51 days at the northern station of the zone, and 550 millimetres (22 inches) on 60 days at the southern station.

(2) The hill country is drier and cooler than the Coastal Plain in summer and cold in winter. Daily and yearly temperature fluctuations are sharper. The mean annual rainfall, based upon observations over forty years, is 638 millimetres (26 inches) on 52 days at the Nazareth station, and 583 millimetres (23 inches) on 59 days in Jerusalem.

(3) The Jordan Valley is warm and dry, without moderating westerly winds in the summer. In winter temperature and humidity are medium. There is little rainfall—305 millimetres (12 inches) on 38 days in the northern section, and 152 millimetres (6 inches) on 31 days in the southern section, based on observations over forty years.

(4) The Negev is a semi-arid zone, which becomes arid south of Beersheba down to Elath. It is hot and dry in summer, cold and dry in winter. There are sharp fluctuations in both daily and annual temperatures and very little rainfall. At the Beersheba station the annual average over forty years is 220 millimetres (9 inches) over 23 days.

Israel, lying between latitudes 29° 30’ and 33° 15’ North, is situated in the sub-tropical zone. In respect of rainfall, however, two-thirds of its area, with an annual precipitation of less than 350 millimetres (14 inches), is in the arid zone and the remainder in the semi-arid zone.

TABLE 1

Fluctuations of temperature in Israel (C)

	Annual average	Mean maximum for hottest month	Mean minimum for coldest month
Haifa	21.0	29.4	9
Tel-Aviv	20.5	32.2	9
Jerusalem	17.8	29.4	4
Beersheba	19.4	33.3	5

The high-lying areas in Judea and Galilee with a heavy annual rainfall ranging between 750 and 1,000 millimetres (30–40 inches) belong to the humid region, but the areas bordering upon these highlands, which are more extensive and have a mean annual rainfall of 550–750 millimetres (22–30 inches), can be considered to belong to the semi-humid region. Most of Israel, which belongs to the Mediterranean littoral, has a typically Mediterranean climate and countryside emphasized by conditions of semi-aridity, few valleys, lack of drainage, endemic malaria, soil suitable for orchards rather than field crops and with few forests or fishing grounds.

Even on the loftier mountains (which, indeed, are not high compared to mountains in the other countries), where the amount of rainfall equals that of the semi-humid zone, a variety of natural features, such as the number of days of rain, the porousness of the soil, high seasonal and annual temperatures are more typical of the semi-arid zone.

Despite the heavy precipitation in the highlands—high not only relative to other districts of the country but in comparison with London with its annual rainfall of 615 millimetres (25 inches) or Paris with 575 millimetres (23 inches), as against Jerusalem with 660 millimetres¹ (26 inches)—the mountainous regions of Israel are regarded as inadequately watered. The reasons are as follows:

(a) The distribution of rainfall is not favourable. A large volume of rain falls in a comparatively short season. The year comprises two sharply divided seasons—a dry summer lasting seven months, during which a permanent anti-cyclone prevents any rainfall whatever, and the cyclonic season in winter lasting five months, in which rainfall is not evenly distributed, several weeks often elapsing between one spell of rain and the next. The average number of days of rain in the districts with heavy rainfall is approximately sixty.

(b) The rainwater, for the most part, is not absorbed in the soil because of the bareness of the hillsides, which in turn is the result of many generations of destructive farming methods and particularly over-grazing by herds of goats.

¹ Robert R. Nathan, Oscar Gass and Daniel Creamer, Palestine Problem and Promise, American Council on Public Affairs, 1946, p. 108.

TOPOGRAPHICAL REGIONS

The country can be divided into six main topographical regions:

(1) The Coastal Plain, stretching from north of the Egyptian border, along the Lowland, Sharon and Samarian plains to the Carmel coast near Haifa, and from there through the Vale of Zebulon and Acre to Rosh Hanikra on the Lebanese border.

(2) The Judean Mountains and Samaria.

(3) The Jordan Depression.

(4) The Negev.

(5) The Vale of Jezreel (Esdraelon).

(6) The Galilean Mountains.

A clear line of demarcation is drawn by the Jordan Depression which runs from north to south and divides the Judean Mountains from the Transjordanian Plateau.

West of the Judean Mountains lies the Coastal Plain. North of these mountains and Samaria runs the Vale of Esdraelon, separating the central massif from the Galilean Mountains.

The Negev lies to the south of the Judean Mountains.

The valleys are inter-connected and in effect constitute an unbroken stretch of country running from north to south. The mountains, too, constitute great massifs broken only twice—in the north by the Vale of Jezreel and in the south by the Judean Plain down to the Negev Highlands. On both sides of the mountains there are valleys and plains.

TYPES OF SOIL

The principal rocks from which the soils of Israel have developed are chalk, dolomite, granite, basalt, sandstone, etc. These soils can be classified on the basis of their origin as follows:

(1) Alluvial clay soils—in areas with high and medium rainfall in the northern and central districts, mainly the Hulah, Jezreel and Zebulon Valleys, the plains in Judea, Samaria and Galilee, and the lands bordering upon the mountains in these areas. This is the...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Contents
• Map and Figures
• Preface
• Chapter 1. Agricultural Geography of Israel
• Chapter 2. Land
• Chapter 3. Water
• Chapter 4. Changes in the Arab Village
• Chapter 5. The ‘Moshava’
• Chapter 6. Middle-Class Settlements
• Chapter 7. Workers’ Settlements
• Chapter 8. Industry and Handicrafts in the Villages
• Chapter 9. New Trends in Agricultural Settlement
• Chapter 10. The Role of Agriculture in the National Economy
• Chapter 11. Rural Sociology in Israel
• Chapter 12. Agricultural Policy (Before and after the establishment of the State)
• Index