The 31st Agromashov exhibition

בס"ד

Agromashov Exhibition, the leading agricultural exhibition in Israel, was held in the "Ha'Uma" Buildings in Jerusalem with exhibitors from around the world who presented agriculture-related innovations and technologies.

Also, an environmental conference was held to raise awareness of global warming, and a team of judges, including chef Eyal Shani, chose the best Israeli apple and finest Israeli tomato.

We made it on the exhibition's first day and watched the competition start for choosing the best Israeli apple and tomato. Chef Eyal Shani, known for his love of tomatoes, and other vegetables, stood at the head of the judge's panel. After endless tastes, they chose the winning cherry tomato, known for now as number 605271. They chose the Lutz tomato of Top seeds in second place, and the Whitney tomato of "Hazera" company won third place.

And regarding the apples, the biggest winner was the Gala Star apple, and at second place won the Aurora apple. 

Among the developments at the exhibit was the "Orly saber" new product - saber branches without thorns, ready to eat for salads, wok, or cooking. The saber branches have 30% of the required daily intake of vitamin C and 28% of the necessary daily intake of magnesium. They have 15-25% more values than the saber itself.

Another development is from the "Gedera Seeds" company - The Rovaggio purple curled lettuce. It is extra crispy, rich in water, and has many health benefits, such as lowering risks for chronic disease (proven effectiveness), vitamin A source, etc., had already won Italy and now finishes its acclimatization processes these days in Israel and transfer to commercial planting.

Bakers will be glad to hear that the "Neto seedlings" nursery successfully developed rare vanilla seedlings that can grow in the Israeli climate. Those seedlings are sold to farmers across Israel, thus contributing to the availability of this popular plant.

Another development was the "Fascination" watermelon. I don't know if we tried it, but the watermelon we tried from "Gedera seeds" was delicious! This "fascination" kind of watermelon grows everywhere, no matter the weather, and they guarantee it will always taste sweet.

"Origin Seeds" company presented two kinds of watermelon - Essence and Maxima. These two varieties were found to have 30% more water utilization efficiency than other varieties on the market, meaning they can help farmers to save a lot of money every year.

Another development is the "Green Fence" by the renewable energy company - TerraLite. The company established its first solar fencing project in the South of the land in moshav Noam. The new fence is used both as a security and economically. It also allows the production of clean electricity for charging electric vehicles, thus eliminating the need for fuel and helping with fuel prices.

The start-up company "Adwal Plants" presented its unique development - planters that automatically drain excess water. This automatic drainage saves water and costs. The planters keep the soil water-free, except for the natural moisture that the plant's soil can store.

After a tiny coffee break from the wonderful Agrocafe company, we continued to MarulaLab's stand. The Marula is a tree that belongs to the mango family and grows mainly in Africa. The "World Marula Center" in Ramat Negev in Israel is the only center in the world that was established to research, develop, cultivate and produce Marula products. Israel is the only country worldwide that grows Marula trees outside of Africa.

The company produces various products, from a small yellow golden fruit to oils, soaps, and even gummy candies that are a real superfood. An extended article will soon be uploaded to the website.

As mentioned, 16 delegations from around the world arrived at the exhibition. Delegations from Greece, Angola, Albania, Poland, the US, and more. Some of which also showcased their products.

We saw organic products from Angola, such as coffee beans and spreads, gluten-free pastries and pizza from Greece, and more, that one can only hope they will get a kosher certification so we can all enjoy them.

And last innovation we were very impressed with was the Greek company Biodrama. Their representative, Panagiotis Gkoritsas, explained to us what stands behind the company's products, and it really made me crave some blueberries.

Since blueberries aren't available year-round, Biodrama offers organic blueberry capsules and also dried blueberry leaves for making tea. 

From a study that the company conducted, they learned that blueberries have many benefits, such as helping in weight loss. Panagiotis told us that thanks to the blueberry capsules he consumed, he himself lost a lot of weight.

He also explained that blueberries help metabolism, memory, muscles for gymnasts, bones, diabetics, stress, the heart, vision, and more.

The company doesn't have kosher certification, but I hope they'll have it soon. And for now, all that is left is to enjoy the fresh or frozen blueberries on the supermarket shelves because it seems like they are a real superfood.