With increased pressure on agriculture to use fewer resources, the fundamental challenge remains: how can we maximise crop yield and quality while using less water? The answer lies beneath our feet—understanding how water moves through soil is key to scheduling irrigation effectively and ensuring optimal crop performance.
In today’s agricultural landscape, the pressure is mounting. Water is scarce, costs are rising, and farmers—whether small-scale or commercial—are expected to produce more with less. Precision irrigation offers a practical and effective response to these challenges, providing farmers with the tools they need to make the most of every drop of water, every unit of fertiliser, and corner of your farm.
On Earth Day 2025, it is valuable to place our focus on water, an indispensable resource for life on earth, and how we use this precious resource in crop production. Experts from Netafim Southern & East Africa weigh in on water-use efficiency and call for drip irrigation adoption
Drip irrigation has long been a trusted method for irrigating sugarcane; widely recognised for its ability to reduce resource use and increase yields. Conversations with sugarcane farmers in Kwa-Zulu Natal highlighted that the greatest benefits of implementing drip irrigation in sugarcane production often extend beyond the traditional goal of growing more with less. Lower electricity use and reduced labour requirements emerged as some of the most valuable benefits of drip irrigation in sugarcane production.
Bringing improved water-use efficiency to vineyards, drip irrigation has added a lot of value to the wine grape industry. As technology improves and our knowledge expands it will continue to do so. The more we align irrigation with soil movement dynamics, the greater our ability to enhance both sustainability and profitability in the vineyard.
Derick Human from De Rust has been farming onion seed for 36 years and has been irrigating with Netafim driplines for 28 years. He shares his experience of transitioning from heavy wall to thin wall driplines and the benefits of drip irrigation for onion seed production.
Irrigation automation unlocks the full potential of precision irrigation and fertigation. Taking into consideration the level of precision we want to achieve in the field to truly grow more with less, we realise that only by applying the appropriate technologies, and managing these technologies optimally, can we use every drop of water and gram of fertilizer with extreme precision.
Derick Human van De Rust boer al 36 jaar met uiesaad en besproei reeds 28 jaar met Netafim druplyne. Hy vertel oor die skuif van dikwand- na dunwanddruplyne en die voordele van drupbesproeiing vir uiesaadproduksie.
Read about the impact of low-flow drip irrigation on orchard management by optimizing water use, reducing fertilizer costs, and enhancing sustainability. Gain expert insights from Johann du Preez on practical solutions, soil profiling, and the benefits of efficient irrigation systems tailored to your crop and soil needs.
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.