Researchers form the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Al Quds University in Jerusalem are working together to improve the yield of olive
trees in both Israel and the Palestinian autonomous area.

The researchers are Prof. Ben-Ami Bravdo and Shimon Lavee of the Hebrew University Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences and a team headed by  Prof. Hassan Dweik at Al Quds University.

In working towards increasing the relatively low yield from olive trees -- due mainly to reliance on traditional, "low technology" methods -- the researchers have found that through the use of drip irrigation and appropriate fertilzer injection through the irrigation system it is possible not only to increase the yield of olives per tree but also to obtain a higher quality oil than has been achieved heretofore.

The Palestinians carried out their research on olive groves in the area of Abu-Dis in the Jerusalem area while the Hebrew University researchers have been experimenting with trees in a grove in the area of the Dir Rafat Monastery near Kibbutz Tzora.

Laboratory tests of the fruit, the oil and the leaves of the experimental trees were evaluated at the Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences of the Hebrew University in Rehovot. The scientists developed special testing techniques and chemical analyses methods for this purpose.

The research -- supported by Belgian government funds -- is continuing, with attempts to be examined as to whether diverted recycled water can be utilized to irrigate the experimental olive tree groves, using a drip irrigation system to be installed in the two groves.