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The history of agriculture in Palestine dates back to 8000 BCE and some of the earliest agricultural settlements in the world. Several of the crops grown by the earliest farmers continued to be important throughout the long history of Palestinian agriculture. In the 19th century CE the Ottoman Empire discouraged, with limited success, the long-standing communal land system called musha'a practiced by the Palestinian Arab farmers living in the highlands. Wheat and barley were their most important crops and were grown primarily for subsistence rather than the commercial market. Olives are an important traditional crop. In the late 19th century Palestinians began to grow commercial and export crops such as citrus in the lowlands near the Mediterranean Sea coast. Large landowners, both resident and non-resident, owned a large part of the land, especially near the coast.
In 1882, Jewish immigrants, with financing and technical assistance from abroad, began to purchase land and establish agricultural settlements in the coastal area of the Holy Land. Jewish farmers focused on producing commercial and export crops such as vegetables and citrus. By 1941, Jews owned 24.5 percent of the cultivated land in Palestine. Most Palestinians continued to live in the highlands and practice subsistence agriculture.
The partition of Palestine into the country of Israel and the Palestinian territories in 1947–1948 resulted in a war in which most Palestinian farmers living in Israel were dispossessed of their land which was subsequently farmed by Israelis. More land farmed by Palestinians in the Palestinian territories (and subsequent State of Palestine) has since been gained by Israel as a result of wars and uprisings and Israeli settlements. Israeli policies limiting the supply of water, access to farmland, and other factors of production have impacted Palestinian agriculture.