By Ari Goren
Israel: New substitute for chemical pesticides
This Development from the "Agro Tech" company is an emulsion based on vegetable oil used against mites and other pests. The final approval was given after a series of field trials conducted over five years in cooperation with researchers at the Agricultural Research Organization - the Volcani Institute, which demonstrated the effectiveness of the emulsion, sometimes more effective than chemical spray.
The exact composition of the emulsion was kept secret, and was found to be in no way dangerous to human health, or to plants and animals. It was also found to be environmentally safe and can be used close to the date of harvesting without fear of food safety problems.
The Innovative product came into use in the first stage and is currently being used to grow tomatoes over more than 200 hectare, yielding about 40 thousand tons of standard and cherry tomatoes in the south of Israel.
The "Health tomatoes" are sold in large retail chains and vegetable stores nationwide. The company noted that sometimes a thin layer of oil is left on the surface, but that this can easily be washed off with water.
The "Agro Tech" company intends to expand the use of "Tamar Tech" in other fruit and vegetable crops, allowing farmers to significantly reduce the use of harmful chemical pesticides.