The idea of raising the strawberry off the ground
and growing it on detached beds (30-meter boxes
suspended in midair inside greenhouses) came from
agronomist Dr. Menachem Dinar, who until recently
served as director of the vegetable development
division of the Agriculture Ministry's plant
protection service.
Tutlui, a strawberry that grows on a bed
suspended in midair, is one of the most
successful agricultural inventions of the past
two years. The innovation is expected to change
the way this veteran yet problematic crop - a
vegetable that is actually a fruit - is grown.
Strawberries are problematic because they grow in
sandy soil, and are thus contaminated both by the
sand and by fungi that grow because the
strawberry rests exposed on the ground. The
strawberry has also acquired a dubious reputation
for using pesticides. In Europe, Israel's
strawberry export market, pesticides are
virtually a synonym for cancer.