Insect-free lettuce hard to grow
Gazans fail to produce worm-free greens
Gazans having trouble duplicating success of Gush Katif farmers
Palestinian farmers who received the hothouses of Jewish settlers evacuated from the Gaza Strip over the summer are having trouble growing what was once the most popular produce of Gush Katif: Insect-free lettuce, parsley and dill.
In the build up to the disengagement the European Union financed the purchase of 3,300 dunams of hothouses from Israel. The Agriculture Ministry estimates that the Palestinians have so far harvested 1,300 dunams.
Religious Jewish communities in Europe turned to the new Palestinian owners of Gush Katif agricultural fields with the request to keep growing special kosher produce they happily buy in supermarkets across European cities.
The initiative failed as the first produce was infected with worms, effectively canceling their kosher status.
“Growing greens without insects and worms was a unique technique developed in Gush Katif,” says Yossi Tsarfati, chairman of the Gush Katif farmers committee.
“The knowledge is also lacking among the Palestinian workers who worked for us; they did not take part in the special spraying and laboratory tests,” Tsarfati added.
Evacuated Gush Katif farmers have transferred their agricultural know-how to fields in the south, not far from Sderot, where a packaging house has been set up.
The Agriculture Ministry expects the production of special Gush Katif produce to reach pre-disengagement levels within months.
