Despite the ongoing conflict in Israel the sweet potato harvest in 2024 appears to be promising, with local markets being top of mind for this industry. Guy David, Head of Israel’s Sweet Potato Industry Association, declares, “The war caused major difficulties during the growing season. Today, we have a large number of Thai laborers in the fields. The plantation is progressing better due to the Thai laborers are extremely hard at their work. We’re very pleased with the progress and are expecting an excellent yield.”

Guy David, Head of Israel’s Sweet Potato Industry Association.

The majority of fields of sweet potatoes are located near the Northern boundary with Gaza that has turned into a zone of militarisation. David claims that growers were able to increase production towards the middle of their country. “We were capable of shifting production towards mid-level of nation with the assistance of many. We’re experiencing a tremendous production of sweet potato. We have managed to plant more sweet potatoes around the center of Israel.”

The farmer estimates that about 12,000 dunams (1,200 acres) from sweet potato have been planted with irrigation. “Because that our harvest is higher. We do not export much. The focus of our business isn’t in exports but rather on the market that is our main source within Israel as there is a huge gap between the British Pound and Euro are significantly lower than they was previously relative to that of the Israeli shekel. The cost of inputs has also gotten quite expensive as a result of the conflict. This war has also affected other countries producing in the region that utilized to ship their produce via Gaza towards Israel but aren’t able to do it now,” states David.

Guy is the head of marketing at David’s Fruit, their family company founded by his late father Itay David. It is a farm located in Moshav Adanim, a central region of Israel. Guy’s mom Michelle David is now the director of the company along together with the help of his younger brother Idan David, who is responsible for the farm. They cultivate mainly sweet potatoes as well as various other veggies.

World sweet potato conference in Israel

“We are preparing the first global congress of sweet potato in Israel. If it weren’t due to the conflict, we could have already been hosting the event here. It is our goal to host the world Congress every two years.” David concludes. David.

More information is available here:

Guy David

David’s Fruit

Tel: +972 545833353

Email: [email protected]