Ein Gedi Farmers Open Israel's Date Season with Unique Environmental Model

Farmers from Kibbutz Ein Gedi have launched Israel's date season with a unique environmental model: irrigating date palms with treated wastewater pumped from the Dead Sea hotel complex over 25 km. The main orchard spans about 600 dunams, with an additional 30 new dunams and 450 dunams in the Nahal Tze'elim area.

Farmers from Kibbutz Ein Gedi have officially opened Israel's date season, highlighting an exceptional environmental model. The main orchard covers about 600 dunams, featuring Medjool and Bahri trees irrigated with treated wastewater from the Ein Bokek sewage treatment plant, pumped 25 km north. This solution prevents wastewater from flowing into the Dead Sea and turns an environmental nuisance into an agricultural resource. Additionally, about 30 dunams of date palms south of the kibbutz, planted about four years ago, are yielding market-quality fruit for the first year. Another 450 dunams are planted in the Nahal Tze'elim area, about 10 km south of Ein Gedi, planted between 2016 and 2019, of which about 300 dunams are already producing. The rest contain young trees expected to join marketing next year. The article presents the environmental model as a highlight, emphasizing sustainability and innovation.