Field Trip Day at the 2017 DDD Conference,
Thursday, November 9
As part of the 2017 DDD Conference, the Organizing Committee is pleased to offer three informative and enjoyable field trips that connect with themes explored during the conference itself. The descriptions are below.
The trips will leave from the Evens Auditorium bus loop at the Sede Boqer Campus at 8:00 am on Thursday, November 9. They will conclude at approximately 4 pm. Buses will proceed from the conclusion of the tour to the Tel Aviv airport area/train station.
The cost of the trip is $160, which includes lunch.
Please click the following link to select the tour you would like to join
Important: You must register and pay for the trip on the conference Registration page. This is a separate process from selecting the trip. If you do not also pay for the trip through the Registration page, you will not be registered for the trip. Please note that you can register and pay for the trip either in USD or NIS.
Desert Agriculture and Technologies Under Extreme Conditions
Tour Leaders: Naftali Lazarovitch and Alon Ben-Gal
The tour will focus on advanced irrigated agriculture in the arid Negev Highlands and semi-arid Western Negev. We will discuss technologies for coping with stress-causing factors including high water demand, salinity and extreme climate conditions. The tour will visit agricultural research and development sites, including cherry tomato greenhouses, an olive orchard and mill, an open potato field, and a jojoba orchard.
The Nabatean Trail
Tour Leader: Pedro Berliner
We will look at the various developmental stages of the agriculture of the Nabateans, the peoples who inhabited and traversed the Negev Desert along the ancient Spice Route. We will begin by visiting the Hawarim Cistern, as an example of a water storage system for the spice caravans, then move on to the ancient Nabatean city of Avdat to admire the sophisticated agricultural systems developed during the Byzantine period, and we will conclude at the Wadi Mashash farm in which their water harvesting techniques are used to develop efficient agroforestry systems to produce firewood, fodder, grain and fruits in dryland areas.
Desert Viticulture and Wine Tasting
Tour Leader: Aaron Fait
The tour will begin with a visit to one of the ancient Nabatean sites of wine making in the region. From there, we will head to the experimental vineyard collection and commercial vineyards located in the Negev plateau. We will meet researchers and wine makers involved in the work in the fields, and we will end our tour with a tasting of wines from the region, noting their variability.
