By Jamil Dababat

TOUBAS, December 2, 2013 (WAFA) – A Palestinian farmer’s dream is about to come true. A cargo of home grown red basil is on its way to Los Angeles in the United States.

While Minister of Agriculture Walid Assaf believes that export of such products should not take more than 24 hours to reach their destination, this particular journey is nevertheless expected to take 48 hours, starting from Toubas in northern West Bank, and crossing seas and oceans to land in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, a group of skilled male and female workers, in addition to an official assigned by the Ministry of Agriculture, worked around the clock to handle the packaging of these goods. They are responsible for following up on all instructions in order to make sure the receiving country’s requirements are met.

When an expert agronomist felt that the red basil was ready, he gave the green line for export of over 400 kilograms of this crop. The leaves were stuffed in cans in a very delicate way, given that they are the most expensive type of herbal medicines.

A team of American experts also gave the green line for the export, as they followed up all details regarding the export process.

Growing medical herbs and spices is a recent and new trend in the Palestinian agricultural community.

Mousa Daraghmeh, a farmer from Tammoun, a town near Toubas, worked for 17 years in Israeli farms breeding medical herbs. The expertise and knowledge he gained there helped him start his own herbal medicine breeding greenhouse in his hometown in 2007. Today, Daraghmeh’s “Made in Palestine” products are competing against his former employers in world markets, including those controlled by Israeli products.

“A Westerner may ask: Where is Palestine located? How far is Palestine from Israel,” said Daraghmeh. “They started to realize our rivalry in the market. This is the hand that was cultivating in the settlements. It is now cultivating and harvesting here,” he said while stopping near a row of red basil, whose scent was dominating over the other aromatic plants.

Daraghmeh had previously shipped some of his products to the Ukraine, also dominated by Israeli producers. But agronomist Majdi Odeh, head of Toubas agriculture department, said “the Palestinians have now entered new markets thanks to the rich human resources and the farmers’ adherence to the specifications and standards. Even Italy, the number one globally, we can compete against it.”

“Why not?” asked Daraghmeh. He would produce the same quality work as Israelis, “and for me, Ukraine was a lifetime deal.” He took samples of his product to the Ukraine and now he is exporting tons of herbs to that country.

Moving between the tightly closed plastic greenhouses, Daraghmeh says he is breeding 22 types of plants in approximately 140 dunums. Statistics prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture shows that about 500 dunums of land in the area not utilized before 2007 are now rich ground for greenhouse herbal products.

Standing on a hill overlooking Tammoun, one can see the plastic greenhouses covering the horizon in many directions.

Assaf says the agricultural activities in that area have expanded considerably.

Fragrant scents are the most powerful here.

With his knowhow and experience in agriculture, Daraghmeh can “smell” the winds of change in the European and American markets.

“We started to change our orientation after the classical type of agriculture farming had sustained enormous losses,” he said. The same feeling is shared by the Minister of Agriculture.

Today, Daraghmeh employs about 100 people working to make sure that the new products are treated with utmost care.

The unusually warm weather drives the herbs to grow fast. The workers use transmitters to ensure fast and stable communication. Everything there works meticulously precisely, even the smooth flow of water.

For Daraghmeh and the Minister of Agriculture as well as the other teams, the scent that comes out every time they open a greenhouse door is the scent of “victory.” The entrance into the international markets means strengthening Palestine’s existence. Even a Palestinian character drawn on a can of olives in a kitchen in Los Angeles is a victory for Palestine.

“There is a positive mode. Everything enabled us to enter the international markets. Our work is compatible with the strict American and European criteria, and there are guarantees for profit,” said Assaf.

Though the Palestinians cannot outperform the Israeli products that are developing steadily, they say the quality of some of their products surpassed the Israeli ones.

Daraghmeh, who once gained his experience from working in Israeli settlements, is now able to face off Israel in the economic battle in the West. “It is taken for granted that they know how to break into the international markets. Nevertheless, we are now part of the world’s herbal map. We are,” he stressed with pride.

From his spacious room that has internet access, Daraghmeh and his visitors can watch how basil is packaged and exported to the world, with the “Palestine” tag included.

“At the beginning, the road was tough and was not furnished with basil. Now, we export 22 types of herbs,” he said while the boxes were being prepared to be shipped to the airport on their way to Los Angeles.

J.D./M.N./M.S.