Crops Grown in Israel

Best Management Practices

For

Cherry Tomatoes

Best Management Practices (BMPs) are the best recommended practices for growing a specified crop. These recommended practices are based on research and experience and apply to the specified crop under the specified conditions. These recommended BMPs are not the only way to grow a crop but are the best way determined by the author of the BMP. The BMP may change as additional research becomes available.

Author: Omar Zeidan, Head of Vegetable Department, Extension Service, Ministry of Agriculture

Best Management Practices for growing: Cherry Tomatoes

Steps	Recommendation
1. Plant variety	R-139 Tc 170 - for single fruit picking R-124, 819 for cluster picking. Seedling preparation must be ordered in commercial nurseries 40-50 days before transplanting.
2. Planting date	According to the market normally Production of one dunam is about 6 tons produced in 4 months. The optimum for export is to transplant 15/8, 15/11, 15/1, 15/4. The program will produce from 15/11 - 30/8.
3. Plant configuration (spacing) depth of seed	According to the width of the spans of the greenhouse, keep 3,500-4,000 plants or stems per dunam.
4. Field preparation	1) Plow the soil to a depth of 40-50 cm. 2) Basic fertilizers - N:P:K* like 5:12:15 100 Kg/dunam 3) Irrigate the soil to continue soil preparation. 4) Sterilize soil by methyl bromide, 50-60 Kg/dunam
5. Irrigation system preparation	Combine drip irrigation system with head fertilizer control which includes 2-3 pumps to inject different fertilizers, but the irrigation system must be regulated by one dripper per plant.
6. Greenhouse preparation	50 Mash - Net against insects must be established in the greenhouse walls; have double doors for every greenhouse.
7. Monitoring for diseases (white fly - Bimisa tabaci)	Use yellow traps established in the greenhouse to monitor the white fly Bimisa, which transfers the virus Tylev.
8. White fly (Bimisa tabaci) control	By chemicals according to the monitoring with the yellow traps. Use confidor first by the irrigation system; later use recommended chemicals by spraying.
9. Transplanting	The best time is in the afternoon to have a good climate for the seedlings. Transplant in soil irrigated about 30 minutes prior to transplanting.
10. Pollination	By bumble bees; they produce high production and high quality.
11. Monitoring of diseases and insects	Cherry tomato plants can be infected by the same diseases as normal tomato plants. The greenhouse must be controlled and inspected for seasonal diseases.
12. Main diseases	Powdery mildew, altermaria phytophthora, botrytes, cladosporium
13. Main insects	White fly, aphids, spidermites, leaf minor, thrips, caterpillars
14. Fertilizer application after planting	1) About two weeks after establishment, use a starter fertilizer (N:P:K 20:20:20 with microelement). Apply 500-750 grams per dunnam per day. 2) Second stage: From the appearance of the first flowering cluster to the fourth flowering cluster, apply 5:3:10 (N:P:K) 200-400 grams per day per dunnam. 3) Third stage: flowering 5 clusters until heading (cut the head of the plant); use 5:3:10, 400-600 gr per day/dunam. 4) Fourth stage heading until the end, 5:0:10 400-200 gr/day/dunam. Monitor the magnesium amount in the water and keep 50-60 ppm of magnesium in the irrigation water. Do the same for calcium, having 100-120 ppm in the irrigation water. Add Microelements in with the fertilizer all season.
15. Irrigation schedule	1) Use tensiometer to be established in the soil behind the plants in three depths: 20, 60, and 90 Cm 2) Using daily evaporation, have coefficient irrigation for a day according to the plant size. Begin with 0.3-0.4 of the daily evaporation and increase that to 0.7-0.85 at the rapid growth stages and picking period.
16. Harvesting	Harvest according to the transplanting date; normally in a hot climate 60-75 days are needed until the first picking, and in low temperatures 90-110 days are needed to the first picking. Do picking once a week. Choose the completely red fruit. Put in small containers and bring full containers to the package house to be kept until sizing and packing in punts for export or the local market.
17. Storage	Normally there is no need for storage; Sometimes, if there is no marketing, the packing must be kept at 12°C; keep the same temperature if transporting by boat.
18. Greenhouse management	Maintain good ventilation to avoid high humidity and high temperature in the greenhouse. Avoid weed germination around and behind the greenhouses.
*KEY: N:P:K Nitrogen:Phosphorus:Potassium

Best Management Practices
For
Strawberries

Best Management Practices are the best recommended practices for growing a specified crop. These recommended practices are based on research and experience and apply to the specified crop under the specified conditions. These recommended BMPs are not the only way to grow a crop but are the best way determined by the author of the BMP. The BMP may change as additional research becomes available.

Author: Omar Zeidan, Head of Vegetable Department, Extension Service, Ministry of Agriculture

Best Management Practices for growing: Strawberries

Steps	Recommendations
1. Varieties	328 - Early production 329 - Medium production Osogrande - Late production
2. Seedling preparation	Self-nursery or in commercial nursery. Mother plants must be prepared and ordered in January to transplant in April. Mother plants must be free of diseases, preferably produced in a meristem nursery.
3. Planting date	End of September and beginning of October, depending on variety.
4. Field preparation	Use suitable sandy and light soils for strawberry production. Plow soil to depth of 40-50 cm. Sterilize soil by methyl bromide, 50 kg per dunam. Establish seed beds, height 15-20 cm. Seed beds spaced 115 cm apart. Plant spacing in the row is 50 cm.
5. Pre-plant fertilizer	The following must be supplied through soil preparation: Organic matter, 5-6 m³/dunam Super phosphate, 100-150 kg/dunam Potassium chloride, 50-100 kg/dunam
6. Pre-planting herbicide	Before planting, spray Ronstar or Goal herbicide on the seed beds to avoid seed weed germination. After spraying, supply 15-20 m³/water per dunnam to leach the chemicals into the soil by using microsprinklers.
7. Plant space	Per one seed bed, 4 rows of plants, allowing 25 cm between rows. Allow 25-27 cm between plants in the row. In general, the number of plants per dunam is about 8,500-9,000 plants.
8. Post-planting nutrition	Use complete fertilizer N:P:K* with microelements like 5:3:8 or 7:3:7. Start with one liter per day/dunam, increasing to 2 liters per day/dunam in season.
9. Irrigation schedule	Irrigation can be controlled by tensiometers according to daily evaporation. After establishing the plants, it was found that the daily amount of water needed to plant is according to the following schedule: October 2.0 m³/day/dunam November 1.6 m³/day/dunam December 1.0 m³/day/dunam January 1.0 m³/day/dunam February 1.5 m³/day/dunam March 1.7 m³/day/dunam April 2.8 m³/day/dunam May 4.0 m³/day/dunam
10. Disease monitoring	It is important that strawberries have good ventilation to avoid diseases. Open the plastic tunnel at every opportunity. Keep the plastic closed only on rainy days.
11. Main diseases	Leaf spots - ramolaria, botrytis, seclorotina
12. Main insects	Spider mites, thrips, aphids, caterpillars
13. Harvesting	Pick strawberries every 2-3 days. Pick strawberries carefully by hand to avoid injury of the fruit. Harvesting is continuous for 5-6 months, normally beginning in December until the end of May.
14. Storage	Strawberry fruit is very sensitive; it needs to be marketed immediately after picking. It can be stored at 4°C for a few days.
15. Additional information	Use plastic mulching over the seed beds to have clean fruits: - To avoid high humidity in the tunnels - To reduce the incidence of botrytis - Use colored plastic for mulching, preferably shiny plastic. If there is danger of seed weed germination, use black plastic for mulching.
*KEY: N:P:K Nitrogen:Phosphorus:Potassium

Best Management Practices
For
Roses Grown in Greenhouses

Author: Nissim Pines, Floriculture Department, Extension Service, Ministry of Agriculture, Israel

Best Management Practices for growing: Roses

Comments: This is a BMP for roses grown in hothouses, heated in the winter, cooled in the summer by pad and fan in soilless culture in the Mediterranean area (Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, PA).

Steps	Recommendations
1. Plant material	Cutting, grafting (miniplants), half year bushes
2. Plant variety (depending on market)	Small flowering - Mercedes, Jaguar, Frisco, Amore Large flowering - First-red, Papilon, Nobles
3. Growing time	All year round 3-6 years from planting to planting
4. Growing temperature	Winter - night 18°C, day 22°C minimum Summer - night with no control, day 28-30°C Optimum - night 18°C, day 26°C
5. Soilless culture	Rock wool, cocos, tuf, perlait
6. Plant configuration	Two rows in a bed, 30-40 cm between rows, 18-20 cm between plants in the row. Number of plants: 6,000-8,000 per 1,000 m²
7. Irrigation system	Drip: 2 L/h every 20 cm. Irrigation: 3-12 times a day with a computer
8. Fertilizer application	Inject liquid fertilizer with micronutrients into the drip system. First month: 1 L/m³ of Shefer-3 or Notrikol-3 or with 1 5L/m³ Mor. From the second month on: 1.5-2 L/m³ of Shefer-3 or Notrikol-3 or with 1.5 L/m³ Mor in the winter and 1.5 L/m³ Mor. Add acids to keep the pH between 5-6.
9. Growing season	Bending system. Cut all the good flowers, bend all blind shuts and flowers of second quality.
10. Plant management	4-6 weeks after planting, band all the branches.
11. Harvesting date	All year round, beginning 8-10 weeks after planting.
12. Harvesting time	2-3 times every day
13. Post-harvest treatment	In the greenhouse, clean the water with "meshaper" 6 (TOD-6, sodium dicholor-isocyanurate). After sorting, clean the water with TOG-4 or 8‑HQC. Store harvested roses in a cooler at 0.5-4°C.
14. Monitoring	California trips, red spiders, white flies, aphids, scale insects, powdery mildew of roses, black spot, downy mildew, boytritis

Best Management Practices
For
Growing Table Grapes

Author: Hanan Bazak, Head of the Fruit Department, Extension Service, Ministry of Agriculture

Best Management Practices for growing: Table Grapes

Steps	Recommendations
1. Plant material	Superior
2. Planting date	May-June/Feb
3. Plant configuration (spacing) depth of seed	Y. type trellis, 3.5 x 1.5 m
4. Field preparation	Plow deeply, crumble the clods, level holes
5. Pre-plant fertilizer	No pre-plant fertilizer
6. Pre-emergence herbicide	Trufluralin (Treflan)
7. Monitoring for diseases	The berry moth (Lobesia botrana)
8. Post-emergence herbicide	Basta, Round-up for mature vineyards only
9. Post-emergence fertilizer application method and amount	By fertigation: 200 kg nitrogen per hectare, 350 kg of potassium oxide/ha, and 60 liters of phosphate/ha
10. Irrigation schedule	Weekly during the growth period
11. Harvesting date	Beginning of June
12. Storage	For one month at 0°C
13. Additional information needed to grow crop	Requires cane pruning

Best Management Practices
For
Olives for Oil Growing Under Fresh Water Irrigation

Best Management Practices are the best recommended practices for growing a specified crop. These recommended practices are based on research and experience and apply to the specified crop under the specified conditions. These recommended BMPs are not the only way to grow a crop but are the best way determined by the authors of the BMP. The BMP may change as additional research becomes available.

Authors: Birger Reuvin, Fathi Abd El-Hadi, Extension Service, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Israel

Consultants: Dr. Ishak Klien, Volcani Center, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Israel; Ehud Hanokh, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Israel

Best Management Practices for growing: Olives for oil under fresh water irrigation

Comments: This is the BMP of olive growing under fresh water irrigation under desert conditions in the Israeli Negev.

Steps	Recommendations
1. Plant variety	55% Barnea, 25% Souri, 20% Picual
2. Planting date	Year round except July-August and November-January
3. Plant configuration (spacing) depth of seed	7x4 m (360 plants/ha) with the possibility of thinning trees after about 10 years to 7x8 m
4. Field preparation	Deep chiseling 60-70 cm
5. Pre-plant fertilizer	Organic manure, 40-50 m³/ha in the raw*
6. Pre-emergence herbicide	Contact herbicides only
7. Monitoring for diseases	Verticillium and nematodes (pre-planting analysis) glyphodes, aceria nalepa, bactrocera, scales (parlatoria, red scale, black and brown scales), phleotripus (bark beetle), peacock eye knot (spiloceao oleogeneae)
8. Post-emergence herbicide	First 2 years: Contact herbicides: Oxyflouron, Terbotrin 3 years and up: Simazin, Dioron, contact herbicides
9. Post-emergence fertilizer application method and amount	Fertigation with formolation 8:3:11, 400 cc/m³ water
10. Irrigation schedule	Drip 2 lines*** interval: 2-3 days in reference to evapotranspiration
11. Harvesting date	From the end of October according to the fruit ripening index
12. Storage
13. Additional information needed to grow crop	Shaping: For mechanical harvesting it is necessary to build the tree on one straight trunk at least 70 cm high from the ground.
* If there are sodium problems and the SAR is high, then add gypsum. Activation of these applications needs at least 20 mm of rain *Irrigation of fruiting orchard (full covering of the area - 4 years old and up) according to Et.

Month	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Etc	0.15	0.15	0.15	0.25	0.3	0.25	0.25	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.35	0.15

Irrigation of new orchard at the first 3 years (liter per tree per day).

Month	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
1^st year	3	3	5	7	7	7	8	10	10	10	10	8
2^nd year	7	7	8	10	15	15	17	20	20	20	20	15
3^rd year	15	15	18	22	30	35	35	35	35	35	35	25

**** Under salinity conditions add 15-20% more water for leaching.

Best Management Practices
For
Olives for Oil Growing Under Saline Water Irrigation

Best Management Practices are the best recommended practices for growing a specified crop. These recommended practices are based on research and experience and apply to the specified crop under the specified conditions. These recommended BMPs are not the only way to grow a crop but are the best way determined by the authors of the BMP. The BMP may change as additional research becomes available.

Authors: Birger Reuvin, Fathi Abd El-Hadi, Extension Service, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Israel

Consultants: Dr. Ishak Klien, Volcani Center, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Israel; Ehud Hanokh, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Israel

Best Management Practices for growing: Olives for oil under saline water irrigation

Comments: This is the BMP of olive growing under saline water irrigation under desert conditions in the Israeli Negev.

Steps	Recommendations
1. Plant variety	55% Barnea, 25% Souri, 20% Picual
2. Planting date	Year round except July-August and November-January
3. Plant configuration (spacing) depth of seed	7x4 m (360 plants/ha) with the possibility of diluting trees after about 10 years to 7x6 m
4. Field preparation	Deep chiseling 60-70 cm
5. Pre-plant fertilizer	Organic manure, 40-50 m³/ha in the raw*
6. Pre-emergence herbicide	Contact herbicides only
7. Monitoring for diseases	Verticillium and nematodes (pre-planting analysis) glyphodes, aceria nalepa, bactrocera, scales (parlatoria, red scale, black and brown scales), phleotripus (bark beetle), peacock eye knot (spiloceao oleogeneae)
8. Post-emergence herbicide	First 2 years: Contact herbicides: Oxyflouron, Terbotrin 3 years and up: Simazin, Dioron, contact herbicides
9. Post-emergence fertilizer application method and amount	Fertigation with formolation 8:3:11, 0.4 L/m³ water (the source of the K has to be nonchloric)
10. Irrigation schedule	Drip 2 lines**** interval: 2-3 days in reference to evapotranspiration
11. Harvesting date	From the end of October according to the fruit ripening index
12. Storage
13. Additional information needed to grow crop	Shaping: For mechanical harvesting it is necessary to build the tree on one straight trunk at least 70 cm high from the ground. After and during rain of more than 5 mm it is necessary to irrigate immediately to prevent salt damage.
* If there are sodium problems and the SAR is high, then add gypsum. Activation of these applications needs at least 20 mm of rain *Irrigation of fruiting orchard (full covering of the area - 4 years old and up) according to Et.

Month