Consul General Sidenote 20/5/2016

The Ohio-Israel Agricultural Initiative

  • 5/20/2016
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    ​This week I was in Columbus and took part in a meeting of the Ohio-Israel Agricultural Initiative. We discussed potential opportunities for partnerships and collaboration with Ohio State Leadership including Speaker Cliff Rosenberger and Ohio Agriculture Director David Daniels. The U.S.-Israel partnership continues to spur and advance new and innovative projects, particularly in regards to water.
     
    Over the years, Israel has implemented centralized water planning and real pricing, educated citizens to conserve water, desalinated seawater, seeded rain clouds, used drip irrigation and recycled nearly all its wastewater to use on crops. Today, despite the fact that the population has grown tenfold and rainwater has even diminished by half, there is no water shortage. On the contrary, there is a water surplus, and we even export this invaluable resource and water technologies to our Arab neighbors and around the world. When California and eastern Africa recently faced severe droughts, the first place they turned to was Israel.
     
    Now more than ever, the world is coming to Israel for partnerships, and we see that facilitation as one of our primary responsibilities.