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Israel demonstrates anti-drought technology at Expo Milano

Xinhua, June 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Under the theme "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life," the ongoing Expo Milano serves a major stage for countries to demonstrate their innovative agricultural technologies. Israel is showcasing technologies that best accommodate the country's geological and climate conditions.

Expo Milano 2015 represents an opportunity for Israel to provide visitors the skills acquired in these years, like a huge "granary of knowledge," Enrico Zilli, the press officer of Israeli Pavilion said.

Vertical farming and drip irrigation are the two technologies that Israel is proud to present at the expo. A wall of the national pavilion of Israel, known as "vertical garden," is used as a live demonstration of the techniques.

The 70-meter-long, 12-meter-tall wall is planted with rice, wheat and corn, managed by a computer program and a mobile application. It shows what Israel has achieved over the past decade in utilizing its limited land and water resources, Zilli said.

For example, for 1 kilo rice, you generally use 5,000 litres of water. With this vertical way, vertical system, you only need 1,500 litres of water, which is like a maximum of sparing natural resources.

The biggest advantage of vertical farming, according to Zilli, is the fact that it requires only drip irrigation and can be applied on the walls of residential building, thus saving valuable water and land resources. It has also other functions like providing soundproofing and insulation for houses.

Desert accounts for 60 percent of land in Israel, and the annual precipitation in the country is less than 200 millimetres. Israeli scientists have been using creative methods and techniques to develop resource-saving agriculture and have succeeded in transforming many parts of the desert into fertile soil.

Israel's pavilion covers a total area of 2,369 square meters. Under the theme of "The Fields of Tomorrow", the Israel pavilion presents a wonderful journey to visitors through its agricultural engineering with a look into the future of mankind. Endit