Fried Green Tomatoes

"This program which at the beginning was headed by Shai Leviatov the current Zeraim Gedera tomato development manager and is today headed by Raviv Ozeri, focuses on the development of new high yielding varieties that include properties such as high TYLCV tolerance, high fruit setting capacity in hot temperatures and superior quality fruit.

The key target market chosen for the program is Egypt. Egypt, with a population of over 70 million, is one of the largest potential markets for open field tomatoes in the world. The produce is primarily for supplying the local market with a small amount for export mainly to the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf countries.

The chief development takes place in the suitable growing areas in Israel while simultaneously new selected varieties are tested and acclimatized in Egypt every year with the active collaboration of Technogreen (Zeraim Gedera’s sole distributor in Egypt). The program has been running for over ten years and its first commercial varieties are Rosario followed by the current most widespread variety, Soave."

1. Businesses will always find a way to collaborate in order to accumulate wealth, regardless of wars, politics or ethics. Isn't this a central tenet of the neoliberal doctrine?

2. The Israeli agronomists have found their niche: Identify problems in the Arab World, develop technologies, sell them through monopolistic structures (sole distributors) to the farmers. I wonder how many of those farmers know that their seeds are in fact Israeli seeds. I wonder how many care.

3. Shame on the Egyptians and the rest of the Arab world for not developing their own seeds and making them available freely, as they should. Egypt graduates more PhDs in Agriculture at the expense of the state than the rest of the Arab World together. What are they doing?

4. Do we get these seeds in Lebanon? I wonder...