The Negev Foundation is a

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, based non-profit, tax-exempt organization that promotes the agricultural development and economic sustainability of the

Negev Desert The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

The Foundation

The Negev Foundation promotes agricultural innovations that allow farmers to utilize the desert's arid lands and

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuary ...

as tools to successfully cultivate a wide range of crops. In 2008, the organization was recognized by

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for its fourth consecutive year of having a four star C.N. efficiency rating.

Notable projects

The Ohio-Israel Agriculture Initiative of the Negev Foundation

Since 2002, The Negev Foundation has overseen the Ohio-Israel Agriculture Initiative. This initiative has coordinated and developed projects engaging both the Ohio and Israel agricultural industries in the areas of trade, exhibition,

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...

projects. For example, students from Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio received funded internships from the initiative to gain work experience at fish farms in Israel. The Initiative has also funded research projects including one where Israeli cattle were inseminated by bull semen from Ohio to evaluate breed quality and innovative artificial insemination processes.

The Ramat Negev AgroResearch Center and George V. and Janet Voinovich Business Center

In a long-term effort to conquer the challenges of achieving sustainability in the desert, The Negev Foundation secured funding for permanent research facilities and a unique, regional business center. The foundation inaugurated the combined research and business center in December 2007.Daddario, Jennifer (9 September 2008). "Taking Care of Business" ''The Cleveland Jewish News''
/ref> The George V. and Janet Voinovich Business Center is named for the U.S. senator and his wife as a tribute to their work and friendship with Israel. The Foundation also supports the Ramat Negev AgroResearch Center where researchers seek to develop innovations to improve desert agricultural tools and techniques.

References

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External links