Type :
R&D organization
Core Business :
Solving of current problems in agricultural production, introduction of new products, processes and equipment.
Overview :
The Agricultural Research Organization (ARO) is the research arm of the Israel Ministry of Agriculture. ARO is responsible for planning, organizing and implementing the greater part of Israel''s agricultural research effort. ARO is concerned with solving current problems in agricultural production, with the introduction of new products, processes and equipment, and with research investigations on which Israel''s future agricultural effort will be based.
Located at the Volcani Center campus in Bet-Dagan, near Tel-Aviv, ARO’s seven institutes are responsible for Field and Garden Crops, Horticulture, Animal Science, Plant Protection, Soils & Water, Agricultural Engineering, and Technology & Storage of Agricultural Products. ARO also operates four research stations, in various parts of the country, and serves as a testing center for agricultural produce and equipment. Israel’s Gene Bank for Agricultural Crops is also located on the ARO Volcani Center campus.
While encompassing the full range of agricultural research activities, ARO focuses in particular on arid zone agriculture, enabling Israel - a country short of all the resources required for agriculture - to achieve among the highest levels of agricultural output in the world.
Among ARO’s areas of special expertise are:
* agriculture under arid conditions
* agriculture on marginal soils
* irrigation using effluent and saline water
* crop cultivation in protected environments
* freshwater fish farming under conditions of water shortage
* minimization of produce losses through use of latest pest control and post-harvest storage methods
* breeding and development of new strains of crops and domestic animals better suited to the adverse conditions which already exist in many parts of the world, and which are likely to become even more prevalent in the future.