How high-tech is integrated into the Israeli dairy industry.

How high-tech is integrated into the Israeli dairy industry. Milk production in Israel is carried out under a quota system that exists in only two other nations—Canada and Norway. “In case of an increase or expected increase in the demand for milk products, the Dairy Board lifts the quota… The Dairy Board advises the farmers, considering the expected high demand for holidays and summer months, allowing the farmers to plan and get organized accordingly,” says Dr. Ephraim Maltz, a senior researcher emeritus at the Volcani Center, the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture’s research arm . Demand is particularly high for Shavuot (marked May 30-June 1 this year), when eating dairy is a holiday tradition. With the government’s support, Israeli farmers have learned to breed cows by better utilizing the natural environment, despite the nation’s arid climate and chronic water shortages. The farmers’ methods include feeding cows with recycled natural foods, using recycled water to grow fodder and reusing manure in agriculture. Several delegations from other countries have visited Israel to learn from these techniques. To obtain the necessary metrics, a majority of Israel’s dairy cows are “equipped with electronic individual identification, and almost all the milking parlors are equipped with electronic milk meters,” Maltz says. Most Israeli dairy farms use electronic methods to detect a cow’s estrous cycle—the reproductive cycle of mammals such as cows—“by using individual cow activity as an indication for insemination time,” he says. Special sensors measure cows’ daily body weight and milk composition for protein, fat, lactose and more. Many farmers also measure daily rumination and eating times.

Intelligent Technology Smart Farming: Papaya, Passion fruit, Pineapple, Lemon juice extraction.

Intelligent Technology Smart Farming: Papaya, Passion fruit, Pineapple, Lemon juice extraction.The process of making orange juice, Papaya juice, Passion fruit, Pineapple juice.

How Israeli Agricultural Technology is Transforming India.

How Israeli Agricultural Technology is Transforming India. Israeli agricultural technology is transforming the way millions of farmers across India cultivate and harvest. Almost 25 years after the establishment of diplomatic relations, agricultural cooperation has undoubtedly emerged as the cornerstone of India-Israel ties. In 2008, Israel launched the India-Israel Agriculture Project (IIAP) aimed at setting up specialised agriculture centres across India. Today, 15 such Centres of Excellence (CoE) are operational in India, being jointly run by MASHAV, Israel’s agency for international development and India’s Ministry of Agriculture. Additionally, 12 more centres are expected to be launched in coming years, taking their number to 27. In one such centre, located in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan, experts have come up with 24 new varieties of oranges created by combining the traits of selected Israeli and Indian varieties, promising high yield and longer shelf life.

New drug-testing tech could drastically cut animal testing.

New drug-testing tech could drastically cut animal testing.Israeli human-on-a-chip platform has the unique ability to predict risk of toxicity in pharma and cosmetic product candidates without animal testing. After spending an average of $2.5 billion to develop a single new drug, sometimes pharma companies have to pull it from the market due to a bad outcome that was not detected in clinical studies.That’s what happened in 2000, when a promising Type 2 diabetes drug called troglitazone led to idiosyncratic (unexplained) liver damage in one of every 60,000 users. The troglitazone mystery wasn’t solved until March 2016, when a novel “liver-on-a-chip” platform developed by Hebrew University of Jerusalem Prof. Yaakov Nahmias revealed what no animal or human tests could: even low concentrations of this drug caused liver stress before any damage could be seen. “It was the first time an organ-on-chip device could predict information to help pharmaceutical companies define risk for idiosyncratic toxicity,”

The benefits of eating the purple potato.

The benefits of eating the purple potato.Israeli scientists synthesize healthier potatoes and tomatoes in brilliant colors. The technology can also produce unusually hued ornamental flowers.Are you ready for violet-colored potatoes? How about orange tobacco? Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science have figured out how produce betalain pigments in plants and flowers that don’t normally have them. If you’re thinking, “Who needs violet tomatoes?” you should know that red-violet and yellow betalain pigments contain healthful antioxidant properties. They’re also the basis for natural food dyes for products such as strawberry yogurt. Antioxidant activity is 60 percent higher in betalain-producing tomatoes than in average ones, said Prof. Asaph Aharoni of Weizmann’s Plant and Environmental Sciences Department, who teamed up with Dr. Guy Polturak for the pigment research. “Our findings may in the future be used to fortify a wide variety of crops with betalains in order to increase their nutritional value,” he said. Betalain pigments also protect plants against gray mold, which annually causes crop losses worth billions of dollars. The Weizmann study showed that resistance to gray mold rose by 90% in plants engineered to make betalains.

Fruit fly ‘Iron Dome’ for the farmers of India.

Fruit fly ‘Iron Dome’ for the farmers of India. Biofeed’s revolutionary no-spray, environmentally friendly solution against the Oriental fruit fly is a hit with Indian mango growers. There is a revolutionary no-spray, environmentally friendly solution against the Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) made by Biofeed, a 10-employee ag-tech company. Biofeed’s lures, hung on trees, contain an organic customized mix of food, feeding stimulants and control or therapeutic agents delivered by a patented gravity-controlled fluid release platform.Attracted by the odor, the fly takes a sip and soon dies – without any chemicals reaching the fruit, air or soil.

What if work could be more like Facebook?

What if work could be more like Facebook? Israeli startup Hoop aims to banish the work-life balance by bringing a social network to workplace communications. Rachel Mendelovich thinks work should be more like Facebook. Her new company, Hoop, aims to bring the kind of shared interest groups that make social-media sites so irresistible to the business world, in order to improve corporate culture and improve employee recruitment and retention.