Israel's Agricultural Economy in Brief

Report Summary: In the first 12 years of Israel's statehood, its index of farm production increased from the 1948/49 base (100) to 489. But agriculture has rarely contributed more than about 12 percent of the national income or employed more than an average of 17 percent of the labor force. Most presently cultivable land is fully used. Neither unused national resources, opportunities for employment, nor marketing possibilities now indicate the potentials for an increase in the agricultural sector comparable to that of the 1948/49-1958/59 period. Improved production techniques have reduced the number of farmers required to sustain and reasonably increase farm production. Many older farm settlements cannot base themselves entirely on agriculture; industrial activity is becoming increasingly important as an adjunct to seasonal fluctuations in farm income. In some of the newer rural settlements on marginal lands, the role of agriculture is definitely subsidiary to that of industry. Israel's population doubled between 1949 and 1959; much is heard of the ingathering of an additional million in the next 10 years. To approach and maintain economic viability, Israel must increase the quantity and quality of the total national product for home consumption and export. But future growth of income from agriculture will have to come largely through better production techniques in presently developed areas and increased marketing efficiency.