Israeli Scientist Searching for Wheat That Scorns Water

A hardy strain of wheat that
can withstand the droughts which
plague Israel on an average of
every second year is being sought
by a young Weizmann Institute
scientist, who began his research
in the midst of the Sinai' Cam-
paign.
Dr. Dan Atzmon, who was born
in Kibbutz Ein Harod and is now
on the staff of the Plant Genetics
Section of , the Weizmann Institute
of Science, is the "crazy" young
man who found time, in the mid-
dle of the Sinai Campaign, to think
of drought problems.
The idea of developing a variety
of grain which could withstand
drought conditions — which are
plaguing Israel again this year—
was born in Dr. Atzmon's mind
over a decade ago.

At that time he was in Scan-
dinavia on a trip where he
studied, among other things, the
development of f r o s t-tolerant
field crops. Dr. Atzmon thought
it might also be possible to de-
velop a variety of grain which
could withstand changeable Is-
rael climate and produce yields
even in drought years.
Dr. Atzmon knew that there

existed grain varieties which were
relatively drought resistant. These
were unsuitable for sowing in Israel
since in drought years they would
indeed produce yields, but in years
of plentiful rainfall they would pro-
vide very low yields.
However, these varieties were
important to Dr. Atzmon because,
he thought, they might be useful
as parents to produce offspring
wtih characteristics he was seek-
ing.
He approached numerous scienti-
fic institutions with the request
that they send him seeds of

Rusk Testifies
on Arab Refugees

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Secre-
tary of State Dean Rusk testified
be f ore the Senate Subcom-
mittee on Refugees and was ask-
ed about the United States' atti-
tude on the solution to the Arab
refugee problem. He said that the
United States sees in the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency
the important factor for maintain-
ing stability in the Middle East
and that the political situation in
the area renders it impossible to
solve this problem.
The subcommittee will hear re-
ports on the Arab refugee prob-
lem from Assistant Secretary of
State for International Organiza-
tion Affairs, Joseph Sisko, who is
now touring the Middle East, and
from Assistant Secretary of State
for Middle East and South Asian
Affairs, Raymond Hare. It is as-
sumed that one of the major ques-
tions will be whether the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency
which aids the Arab refugees
should continue to aid those refu-
gees who undergo military train-
ing in the so-called Palestine Lib-
eration Army.
*

drought-tolerant varieties. He also
went on a tour, with the support
of a Rockefeller Foundation grant,
to Europe, the United States, India
and Australia.

In his efforts to acquire rare
varieties, Dr. Atzmon also con-
tacted Professor Zhukov-
sky, head of the Genetic Bank
of the Botanical Institute at the
University of Leningrad, who
supplied him with 20 varieties of
drought-tolerant seed. Seed also
was received from Iran and Tur-
key through the UN's Food and
Agriculture Organization.

From California Dr. Atzmon ob-
tained a special shipment of hy-
brid barley, and he also found in-
teresting varieties among the Be-
douin in Israel's Negev.
The practical research work be-
ban in 1962, with the help of a
grant from the Bat Sheva de
Rothschild Foundation.
Investigation showed that there
is no hope of discovering a "cac-

Israeli MDs Ban German
as Convention Language

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

4—Friday, July 22, 1966

tus" variety of wheat with an es-
pecially high tolerance of water
deficiency. However, it was found
that the drought resistant varieties
particularly excel in their ability
to evade the worst consequences
of drought conditions by rapid root
development, reduction in the rate
of water loss and early ripening
of the grain.
The experiments with the Rus-
sian varieties were disappointing.
On the other hand, one of the va-
rieties brought by Dr. Atzmon
from EI-Arish, called "Beladi El-
Arish," as well as varieties ob-
tained from the Bedouin fields in
the Negev, proved to be valuable.
The varieties from California also
proved to be a good source for
early-ripening plants.
After the characteristics of the
various varieties were studied, Dr.
Atzmon began crossing early-
ripening ones with the standard
varieties.
Despite the fact that the re-
search has already continued sev-
eral years, the final goal has not
yet - been reached—that is, a va-
riety which encompasses the
drought tolerant characteristics of
the Bedouin varieties and the high
yields of the varieties currently
grown by the Israeli farmers.
But in all research of this type
many years must be invested in
finding the varieties to be crossed,
crossing them and then growing
generation after generation of hy-
brids until a stable variety is ob-
tained whose characteristics are
indeed those being sought.

Pol Adv

ELECT

Michael L.

STACEY

STATE
REPRESENTATIVE
16th District
Republican

13—<1 VOTE STACEY AUG.

2

A man who's not afraid
to Fight for RIGHT

ELECT Sol A.

DAMN

TEL AVIV (JTA)—The central
committee of the Israel Medical
Association decided unanimously
Monday to boycott any internation-
al conference in Israel at which
German was an official language.
The central committee pointed
out that the ban did not extend
to the use of German by delegates
or guests at such conferences but
only to "recognition of German as
an official language at such con-
ferences."
The medical association returned 4.************************•
tickets sent to it for the recent
See NORM RUBY
-0(
International Dental Federation
-0(
at
meeting for that reason. The corn-
mittee said the ban also would t i . NORTHLAND FORD
apply to a medical insurance con-
10 Mile at Greenfield
'0(
ference scheduled for Israel next
Oak Park LI 8-0800
March.
-ir**********************),

RECORDER'S COURT

JUDGE

[n his 42 years pf court experience.
Dann has fought for the rights of rich
and poor alike—from stockholders to
industrial employees.

21-±: 531 NON-PARTISAN BALLOT

Pol. Adv.

What does LEVIN have
that no other candidate for
JUDGE• COURT of APPEALS has

..

arrtir'77E

has the

HIGHEST RATING

given by the

DETROIT BAR ASSOCIATION...

"OUTSTANDING"

Arab League Council Meets
on Refugee Property Rights

and he is the

. LONDON (JTA) — A decision
to form a new committee of prop-
erty experts drawn from all Arab
countries to work out official
estimates on the value of Arab
refugee property in Israel and to
deal with the United Nations Con-
ciliation Commission on Palestine
which handles this issue, was ad-
opted last weekend at a meeting
of the Arab League Council in
Cairo.
The council urged the Arab states
to adopt a unified stand on the
property question.
At the meeting, which was de-
voted primarily to the question of
Arab refugees' property rights in
Israel, the council attacked the
report of an American expert of
the United Nations Conciliation
Commission on Palestine assessing
the value of the property.
No figures from the report have
been disclosed. But the Arabs, it
was reported, regard the property
estimates of the American expert

ONLY candidate for

this office to be

awarded it.

NEED WE SAY MORE?

E~E Ct CHARLES L.

Y[naTigH1

JUDGE • COURT of APPEALS
NON-PARTISAN—NUMBER 485 ON YOUR BALLOT--VOTE AUG. 2ND

Pol. Adv.}

as too low.

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