peppers are israel’s largest export crops in the past few years, and most of the pepper fields are located in israel’s southern arava region. in order to aid pepper growers, israel’s agriculture and treasury ministries have come together to encourage farmers to spread out their crop growths more evenly, and thus make them more resilient to changing economic conditions.
the program is budgeted at 100 nis (about us$25m), and will provide financing for farmers to convert their current pepper fields to other crops. these farmers will receive financial support – 70% of the costs of converting their fields – in order to support agriculture in israel’s southern region.
in addition, a new program to encourage exporters to band together, and a program for the expansion of agricultural research & development in the region to develop alternatives to pepper are planned.
