Crops and fodder are grown in proximity to the kibbutz but mainly near the abandoned villages of Sirin, Ulam and Hadatta. This land was given over to agriculture after the war and was tilled with rainwater.
From the late seventies to the early eighties water was brought up to these hills and the area has been cultivated as irrigated fields.
Today Degania is a participant in the regional organization for the cultivation of the Sirin hills – The Cultivation of the Field Crops of the Jordan Valley.
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The rose greenhouse |
Loading hay sheafs |
Orchards
Bananas
The banana was among the first of the Jordan Valley crops to have been cultivated. This cultivation was very successful thanks to the hot weather in the valley and the availability of the large quantities of water required. Over the years, the branch has undergone phases of development and today the bananas constitute a central agricultural branch.
Orchard cultivation extends over an area of about four hundred fifty dunams. The harvest yield is high – about 7.5 tons per dunam. The work force is based mainly on local labor with the assistance of foreign workers and high school students.
Dates
The size of the orchard is 220 dunams with 2,750 trees, of which 1,600 are fruit bearing. The young, non fruit bearing orchard consists chiefly of the majhul species; the older orchard consists basically of the Hianni and Omri species.
A kibbutz member manages this branch and is assisted by hired labor.
Avocado
The first avocado plantation on Degania was based on shoots from western India. The initiative for the cultivation and development of the new plant species typified Degania, and was manifested in the planting of an experimental garden of tropical and sub tropical trees. The garden was planted in 1935 in honor of the sixtieth birthday of Dr. Arthur Ruppin as a joint effort with the workers of the agricultural research station in Rehovot, under the direction of the agronomist Dr. Chanan Oppenheimer.
In the second plantation are the fruit bearing species – Pinkerton and Ettinger. Pinkerton constitutes some 80% of the orchard. Our avocado orchards cover some two hundred twenty dunams, forty four dunams of which consist of a young orchard with various non fruit bearing species. The orchard is attended to by a work team from a neighboring kibbutz.
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Jonathan Marcus - Date Picking 1970 |
Working in the bananas - Meir Barhon |
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Selecting dates - Avigdor Pomerantz |
Banana picking - Abraham Barhon - The 50's |
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