Agriculture VII: Crunching a few numbers
Even the most ardent admirer of Kibbutz Reshafim will have to admit that agriculture-wise we are among the also-ran's. While our dairy is one of the finest in the country (elected number ONE by Tnuva in the year 2000), the results of our agricultural activities have been disappointing during the last few years. It may be a case of the flesh being willing, but ...Crop yields 1999
| Crop | Area dunams |
Yield tons |
Yield kg/dunam |
| Watermelons | 240 | 720 | 3000 |
| Peas | 470 | 186 | 396 |
| Wheat | 1380 | 1515 | 1098 |
| Sunflower seeds | 550 | 63 | 115 |
| Coriander | 280 | 497 | 1775 |
| Tomatoes | 570 | 4292 | 7530 |
| Oats | 330 | 46 | 139 |
| Autumn maize | 250 | 216 | 864 |
| Clover | 460 | ||
| Spinach | 150 | 395 | 2633 |
1 dunam=1000 m²
Agriculture is intensive. Most crops are heavily irrigated and sprayed against weeds and pests. On the other hand we rotate crops, grow clover and other leguminous plants, improve the soil with compost and do rain-dances, well almost.In the last five years things have improved a little bit, resultwise. Where the fields seem to have yielded mostly weeds (it would be difficult to explain recurring losses over a ten year period otherwise) at least nowadays an, albeit not huge, profit gladdens the hearts of those who understand the gobbledygook our financial wizzes publish every year.