Knowledge Hub

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.

We need efficiency, predictability, productivity, technology, excellence, control, consistency, reliability, peace of mind and success. Luckily there is a solution that is synonymous with all of this. Precision. 

The benefits of drip irrigation are numerous and will help you harvest a higher yield of better quality; using less water, energy, and fertiliser, saving money and lessen you and your team’s workload so you can concentrate of developing the other aspects of your business.

When discussing filter efficiency, it is important to look at disc filtration as three dimensional. How do we measure a three-dimensional filtration element? The answer is dirt holding capacity (DHC). A filter’s DHC represents the number of particles (mg) retained on the filter medium during a single filtration cycle.

Fertigation is the delivery of fertilizer through irrigation. Precision fertigation is the optimal root-zone management tool delivering just the right combination of water and nutrients directly to the roots of each plant, according to crop phenological cycles.

The precise application of water and nutrients through precision irrigation systems has many benefits. These benefits are however lost if systems are not installed, operated, and maintained with the necessary expertise. Maintenance of the entire system is crucial, but this article looks at filter maintenance specifically.

Streamline™ X is the toughest thin wall dripline ever made - we checked. Read about it's local manufacturing, its benefits fro vegetable production, feedback from the fiel, and trial results.

There is a global trend in agriculture towards increased thin wall dripline use and a greater focus on extensive crops. Fact is, everything is faster, and uncertainty is more. This makes it more difficult to make long term investments, such as vineyards and orchards, and shifts the focus to short-term investments, such as short-term crops, with faster ROI and makes it easier to adapt when a new challenge or trend appears.