EcoPhage was selected as one of the eight Israeli agtech companies working to green farms across the world

The coronavirus crisis proved that no country should depend on imports for food security, says Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) Partner Michal Drayman. “God forbid if we don’t have the internal ability to produce our own fresh produce,” she tells ISRAEL21c.

Yet Covid isn’t the only crisis affecting food security. Water is scarce due to climate change and wasteful farming practices. Pests, weeds and crop diseases are building resistance to the toxic chemicals used to control them. Neither farmers nor consumers want their fruits and veggies coated with chemical residues, but there aren’t enough safe and effective alternatives. International investors including corporate giants such as Monsanto, Syngenta and Bayer are investing in green Israeli agtech, Drayman says. Domestic support comes from the government and several funds and accelerators, including JVP’s food-tech/agtech fund and innovation commercialization company Trendlines Group.

EcoPhage was chosen as one of the eight Israeli agtech companies working to green farms across the world, some already in business for years and others still in the R&D stage.