Drip irrigation is the most efficient method for seasonal vegetable production. It’s about more than saving water—it revolutionises how crops are grown. It is a comprehensive tool for managing crops, drastically improving the viability and sustainability of vegetable farming at any scale.
Climate experts differ in their opinions on the future incidence of frost events. There is uncertainty around what nature will demand from us in terms of climate control in intensive crop production.
We do know that frost damage to crops in sensitive growing phases is a real risk in certain areas. It is however a risk that can be mitigated using different frost mitigation methods.
Team Netafim recently took to Food for Mzansi's media platforms to share extensive knowledge about precision irrigation, its application and the many benefits precision practices can bring to the farm. Topics under discussion included tree crop irrigation, water quality and filtration, dripline selection, vegetable production and drip irrigation, as well as digital farming.
Water-wise farming to produce sugarcane for ethanol production is a cornerstone of Greenfuel’s approach.Day-to-day water delivery to the sugarcane fields is managed with a very high level of precision. The GreenFuel drip irrigation systems are in line with the highest global standards and allows us to achieve up to 95% water efficiency in the field. The system is fully automated for both water delivery and fertilizer delivery and advanced fertigation equipment forms part of the GreenFuel precision irrigation toolbox. Beyond this, very strict operation standards and a religious maintenance programme is followed.
Venturing into sugar bean production, Francois Fourie decided to implement Netafim’s seasonal drip irrigation solutions on some of the hectares available. The goal was not only to achieve efficiency in these fields but also to test the impact these products can have and the efficiency that can be brought to sugar bean production. We spoke to him about his experience with the products implemented.
If you irrigate with the wrong type of irrigation system for the circumstances, the wrong dripline for the irrigation task at hand, or use the wrong scheduling approach, can you truly harvest optimal yield, use resources with perfect efficiency and manage your crop effectively to overcome challenges? Can we hit a bull’s eye without the right tool for every job?
Michael Esmeraldo, MD of Netafim SA, shares his thoughts after attending the 2024 Agbiz Congress. He shares a message of progress and positivity. He also emphasises the massive value of the work done by Agbiz.
Time spent in the field this irrigation season, has alerted the Netafim Field Team of the extremely poor and worsening quality of available irrigation water in certain areas. The greatest concerns with poor quality irrigation water are damage to the crop and soil on the one hand, and damage to the irrigation system on the other hand. In the drive towards increased use of precision irrigation, based on increasing water-scarcity and burgeoning input costs, it is important to place focus on water quality, our understanding of water quality and water quality management.
Did you know that the best olive oil in the world is made from olives of trees irrigated with Netafim driplines? The best drip for the best olive oil.
Drip irrigation has been a proven sugar cane irrigation practice for several decades. Given the harvesting practices employed in sugar cane production, subsurface drip irrigation has become the preferred method.
At the start of 2023, Netafim South Africa delivered the first locally produced roll of the stalwart thin wall dripline, Streamline™ X. Streamline™ X is an extremely tough thin wall dripline and has been available in the market for some time. Local production however means that the dripline can now be offered at a more competitive price. This has given many Klein Karoo seed farmers the opportunity to use the dripline on their farms for the first time.
Netafim Suid-Afrika het aan die begin van 2023 die eerste plaaslik geproduseerde rol van die staatmaker dunwanddruplyn, Streamline™ X, gelewer. Streamline™ X is ʼn uiters duursame dunwanddruplyn en is reeds ʼn geruime tyd beskikbaar op die mark. Met die begin van plaaslike produksie kon die druplyn egter teen meer kompeterende pryse aangebied word en het dit vir verskeie Klein Karoo saadboere die geleentheid gegee om dié druplyn vir die eerste keer op hulle uie- en wortelsaadvelde in te span.
Much has been written about turbulence coefficient and effective filtration area But this is all theory. In practice, do these two features really contribute to keeping a dripper clean?
For Netafim, the highlight of the symposium was Netafim Product Manager, Jerry Austen’s presentation on frost mitigation. He shared theory around frost occurrence and frost mitigation, and how sprinklers can be used to protect trees against this risk.