Of the 380,000 hectares under cultivation in 1995, 20.8% was under permanent cultivation and 79.2% under rotating cultivation. 19.8% of these were smaller than 1 hectare, 75.7% were 1 to 9 hectares in size, 3.3% were between 10 and 49 hectares, 0.4% were between 50 and 190 hectares, and 0.8% were larger than 200 hectares. In 1995, there were 43,000 farm units with an average size of 13.5 hectares. In 1979, it accounted for just under 6% of GDP, 5.1% by 1985, and today, 2.5%. The importance of agriculture in Israel's economy has fallen over time, accounting for decreasing values of GDP. Most of Israel's freshwater sources have been consequently joined to the National Water Carrier, network of pumping stations, reservoirs, canals and pipelines that transfers water from the north to the south. Annual renewable water resources are about 160,000,000 cubic metres (5.6 × 10 ^ 9 cu ft), 75% of which is used for agriculture. Rain falls between September and April, with an uneven distribution across the country, from 700 mm (28 in) in the north to less than 20 mm (1 in) in the south.

Agricultural production has expanded 16 times, three times more than population growth. Since independence in 1948, the total area under cultivation has increased from 165,000 to 433,000 hectares (408,000 to 1,070,000 acres), while the number of agricultural communities has increased from 400 to 725. They set about clearing rocky fields, constructing terraces, draining swampland, reforesting, counteracting soil erosion, and washing salty land. Jews who immigrated purchased land that was mostly semi-arid, although much had been rendered untillable by deforestation, soil erosion and neglect. The development of modern agriculture was closely tied to the Zionist movement and Jewish immigration to Palestine in the late nineteenth century. Citrus packing in Hadera before the establishment of the state.

Big farm mobile harvest yeilds