Video: Israeli scientist David Levy breeding potato varieties for arid regions in the Middle East.

David Levy of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is breeding potato varieties suitable for semi arid climatic conditions as they exist in several countries in the middle east and elsewhere. He has bred varieties that are better suitable for cultivation at higher temperature. These varieties are already grown on semi-commercial scale in Israel and Europe and now Arab countries are interested.

In a cooperative project with scientists from Egypt, Morocco and Lebanon, he discovered that certain potato varieties can be irrigated with water that has a moderate level of salinity, a huge advantage if water resources are scarce.