The rehabilitation of Kibbutz Holit advanced significantly as researchers from the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment teamed up with Intel revitalize its agriculture landscape in the Western Negev. This week Prof. Haim Rabinowitz and the project representatives presented their comprehensive plan to the President of Israel. As a gesture they gifted the President a basket of cherry tomatoes, a variety of tomatoes developed at the Faculty of Agriculture.

Roy Sadeh's master's thesis, supervised by Dr. Ittai Herrmann at the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, introduces a novel technique using spectral estimation models to assess water status in chickpea plants. The research also highlights the minimal impact of leaf area index on remotely estimating leaf water potintial. This advancement will help farmers enhance irrigation efficiency in chickpea fields, leading to increased crop yield.

A new study led by Prof. Saul Burdman, dean of the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, found that watermalons and cantaloupes (as well as other melon species) are at risk of "infection" with a disease that severely affects them. Prof. Burdman's research is advancing knowledge about pathogenic bacteria in plants, and is leading to exploration of innovative methods for improving crop resilience to disease.