Truffle Farms Could Be Israel’s Next Big Thing
Truffle Farms Could Be Israel’s Next Big Thing
March 5, 2018
Israel21c – Desert truffles (terfezia boudieri) have been highly revered and incorporated into the culinary and medicinal traditions of North Africa and the Mediterranean basin for millennia. There are even claims that these truffles could be the biblical manna that sustained the Israelites as they wandered through the barren desert from Egypt to the Promised Land.
Prof. Yaron Sitrit
Prof. Yaron Sitrit of BGU’s Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research is the head researcher for an experimental project on cultivating these rare desert gems.
He and his team do their research and testing in collaboration with the Ramat Negev Research and Development Center, where the project’s experimental plots of cultivated truffles are located.
The team has been working hard to cultivate a new crop of farmed truffles specifically designed to flourish in the Negev desert’s harsh, dry conditions. Prof. Sitrit hopes they will help contribute to growing culinary tourism industry in Israel’s south, which makes up two-thirds of Israel’s land mass.
“The farmers here are looking for new exotic, highly profitable crops that will also support the tourism industry they try to develop,” explains Prof. Sitrit.
“Moreover, this unique crop grows only here and combined with its mysterious halo it attracts people interested in gourmet cuisine. I envision families coming for truffle-hunting guided by trackers, and spending a nice weekend on these farms.”
Prof. Sitrit hopes these truffle farms will become an attractive prospective crop for Bedouin farmers as well, whose larger community already benefits from a tourism industry based on providing Bedouin hospitality and cultural experiences to travelers and locals.
To supplement their income, many Negev farmers, cheese-makers and vintners have created bed-and-breakfast accommodations on their property for romantic or family getaways. The truffle farms that Prof. Sitrit describes could be a potentially lucrative and sustainable prospect for new agriculture-based seasonal tourism.
“I hope that within the coming two years we will be able to establish the first model farm,” says Prof. Sitrit.
“I hope that several settlements deep in the desert will have a few truffle farms [each]. This will enable a continuous and reliable supply of the truffles during the truffle season and especially toward Passover,” the peak traveling holiday for Israelis and Jews visiting Israel from abroad.
Read more on the Israel21c website >>
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