When Israel became a state in 1948, the landscape was dry and arid. Swamps dotted this desert and clean water sources were scarce. All of this changed quickly as the land that was once unable to be tilled, became a lush green farm. Agricultural production improved over 16 fold due to a massive increase in available farmland. In 1948,only about 408,000 acres of Israeli soil was able to be farmed, now over 1.07 million acres are being cultivated. Due to the scarcity of the water in Israel, in 1948 over 75% of all the water in Israel was set aside for agriculture. Due to the many new improvements in technology, state-of-the-art techniques are being used to help lower the huge cost of agriculture. Furthermore, because of the new techniques and technologies, Israel now produces about 95% of the domestic food supply. The only food purchased from outside of the country, is what it can't grow. This cost is balanced by the large range of foods that Israel exports to other countries.