The department vision is:

Excellence in research for sustainable use of soil and water resources

The Department's broad goals are:

1. To optimize use of available nutrients and water resources in managing soil and crops, while preserving environmental quality;

2. To study the impacts of marginal waters, organic wastes and industrial by-products on crop production and soil quality;

3. To elucidate the fate and behavior of pesticides and other organic chemicals in soils and groundwater;

4. To improve soil and water conservation; to study the physiological responses of crops to environmental stresses, especially drought and salinity; and

5. To study soil microbial ecology as affected by changes in the soil environment caused by agricultural practices.

Members of the Department are also involved in the National Water Quality Laboratory, in collaboration with the Water Authority.

Department members in research centers:

Uri Yermiyahu, Ph.D.,  Gilat

Yael Laor, Ph.D.,  Newe Ya'ar