New pepper seeds are developed by Seed Technologies Ltd., the only wholly Israeli owned seed company in Israel. At the end of the development stage, trials were run at Moshav Tsoffar in the Arava by agriculturalist, Avraham Kachwan. The results of the trials show that this new variety produces about 10 tonnes of peppers for every 1,000 sq.m. of land under optimum growing conditions. Other findings have shown that the new variety is resistant to the TSWV and L4 type viruses. This new pepper variety has a long shelf life, has a good taste and is to an export quality suitable for the high standards of the various European countries.Seed Technologies is located in Kfar Rut which is in the Modiin region of Israel. Here the company's hothouses spread over about 40,000 sq.m. and is where this new variety was developed and handled.
Dudu Marziano, the company's owner, who is also the active CEO, says that many resources and thought were invested in developing the new pepper for purposes of adapting the new variety to the Arava growing conditions and to obtain a high quality fruit that complies with the requirements of European target markets.
He also says that the price of these new pepper seeds to growers will be lower by about 40% than the current market price today. This lower price is a significant contribution to the growers’ profitability which is especially important after the difficult export season that the Arava suffered last year. The low seed price will reduce growers’ costs significantly.
The new pepper seed prices are: NIS 0.8 for a single seed as compared with NIS 1.2-1.5 which is today's customary seed price. If you add to this the additional yield per unit area of land, as well as the disease resistance, this price is lower by about 50% than the current market price with the extra advantage of the new pepper’s good taste.
Israel Solodoch, Nufar’s CEO, says that the low seed price will assist Israeli farmers to export their produce at a lower price and in this way help them to contend with their European competitors. This is important for increasing Israel's agricultural exports and bringing foreign currency into Israel.
