Since the August, 1929 disturbances Jews of Palestine, seeking to become a self-sufficient economic unit, have developed truck farming. An exhibition of the new varieties of vegetables grown by Palestine Jewish farmers during the past two years was recently held in Tel Aviv. A report of the exhibition, the first of its kind, has just been issued by the American Palestine Campaign of the Jewish Agency.
Before the disturbances the Jewish farmers of Palestine had largely devoted themselves to the raising of oranges, lemons and similar products, and whatever vegetable products they had raised were a negligible factor in the market. But such cities as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where the largest Jewish communities are located, had need of vegetables on a large scale. Immediately after the riots the Jewish farmers realized that if the Jews were to be a self-sufficient community they had to raise enough vegetables to satisfy the large Jewish population. Thereupon truck gardens were developed in a circle around Tel Aviv. Old vegetables were planted and new varieties were developed.
Many of these truck gardens were started with funds loaned by the Jewish Agency through the Keren Hayesod. The vegetable patches were planted by the Hayarkon, an organization of Jewish truck gardeners. It is the hope of this group to introduce truck gardening into every section of Palestine, so that the Jewish communities can always have their own source of vegetables. Already truck gardening is one of the large industries of Palestine, giving employment to hundreds of men and women.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
