Ben-David Lab
Winter Cereals Research and Breeding
Dr. Jacob Ephrat (1912-1977)
Winter Cereal Breeder
Developed both bread wheat ("Lakish", "Miriam" both are the leading Israeli cultivars in the 1970s) and durum wheat ("Inbar") varieties. He was the head of the field crops and forage department. He was honored with the Israel Prize for Agriculture in 1977.
Dr. Z. Gerechter-Amitai (1924-1998)
Phytopathologist
Contributed greatly to research on wild-emmer wheat in Israel including implication for wheat breeding. Identified the Yr15 resistance gene against stripe rust within the wild emmer wheat genepool (Gerechter-Amitai et al. 1989).
Dr. Avraham Blum (1934-2018)
Plant Physiologist
Pioneered the research on tolerance to abiotic stress in cereals. Study plant stress at the crop level in different cereal crops: Sorghum, Wheat and Rice. Established the internet web site. http://www.plantstress.com/
See also link https://www.cimmyt.org/news/a-tribute-to-the-late-abraham-blum-plant-physiologist-and-cimmyt-partner/
Dr. Uri Kushnir (1944-present)
Winter Cereal Breeder
Developed both bread wheat ("Bar-Nir", "Ruta", "Benyamin" and "Tishrey") and durum wheat ("Gvati" and "Uzan") varieties. He was head of the field crops and forage department and head of seed laboratory/department.
Dr. Uri Kushnir in the wheat field checking 'Bar-Nir'