Netafim is a manufacturer of irrigation equipment owned by Orbia Group. The company produces drippers, dripperlines, sprinklers and micro-emitters. Netafim also manufactures and distributes crop management technologies, including monitoring and control systems, dosing systems, and crop management software, as well as a variety of services, including managed irrigation, agronomical advisory and operation and maintenance. As of 2012, Netafim was the global leader on the fast expanding market of drip- and micro-irrigation.Drip Irrigation Expanding Worldwide
National Geographic, 25 June 2012, accessed 1 August 2019 In it was the overall largest provider of

drip irrigation Drip irrigation or trickle irrigation is a type of micro-irrigation system that has the potential to save water and nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either from above the soil surface or buried below the surfac ...

systems, with a global market share of 30%.Tova Cohen
Israeli irrigation firm Netafim sees 50 pct earnings rise by 2020
Reuters.com, 21 March 2018, accessed 1 August 2019

History

In 2020, Netafim held an over-30% share of the global drip irrigation market. The company recorded revenues of over $1.063 billion in 2019. Netafim is headed by President & CEO Gaby Miodownik, and jointly owned by Orbia (80%) and Kibbutz

Hatzerim Hatzerim (, ''lit.'' Farmyards) is a kibbutz located 8 kilometers west of Beersheba in the Negev desert in Israel. It is named after the Bible (Deuteronomy 2:23), mentioning a site nearby: "the Avvites who lived in farmyards as far as Gaza". It b ...

(20%), following extensive bidding by half a dozen interested parties, including U.S. industrial technologies company Fortive Corp (FTV.N), Singapore's

Temasek Holdings Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited ( ) is a Singaporean State ownership, state-owned multinational investment firm. Incorporated on 25 June 1974, Temasek has a net portfolio of US$288 billion (S$389 billion) as of 2024. Headquartered at Orchard ...

EM.UL U.S. tools maker

Stanley Black & Decker Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., formerly known as The Stanley Works, is a ''Fortune'' 500 American manufacturer of industrial tools and household hardware, and a provider of security products. Headquartered in the Greater Hartford city of Ne ...

(SWK.N), Chinese investment fund Primavera and Chinese pipe maker Ningxia Qinglong (002457.SZ).

Timeline

* 1960–1965 – Water engineer and inventor Simcha Blass carries out tests on the world's first dripper device. * 1965 – Kibbutz

signs agreement with Blass to establish Netafim * 1966 – Introduces world's first commercial dripper * 1978 – Introduces world's first pressure compensated (PC) dripper * 1981 – Opens first subsidiary outside of Israel * 1998 – Merges into single corporation * 2007 – Introduces world's first low-flow dripper * 2011 –

Permira Permira Holdings Limited is a British global investment firm specialised in buyouts, growth funds, equity funds, and credit funds. Founded in 1985 as part of Schroders, it became independent in 1996. Operating as Permira since 2001, the company ...

funds acquires controlling interest for €800m * 2013 – Named 2013 Stockholm Industry Water Award (SIWI) Laureate * 2020 – Netafim acquires Dutch turnkey greenhouse projects provider Gakon, establishing Gakon Netafim On August 7, 2017, Mexichem SA Orbia Group acquired Netafim from Permira Holdings Ltd. for $1.5 billion.

Ownership

In 1973, Netafim brought in its first partner, Kibbutz Magal, based in the Sharon region, and then added a second partner, Kibbutz Yiftach, based in the Upper Galilee region, in 1978. Netafim Hatzerim, Magal and Yiftach merged to create Netafim (ACS) Ltd in 1998. In 2006, Markstone Capital Partners Group and Tene Investment Funds acquired a share of Netafim. In 2011, the European private equity fund

acquired a majority (61%) stake in Netafim, with Kibbutz Hatzerim holding 33% and Kibbutz Magal holding 6%. In 2017, these owners sold 80% of Netafim to

Mexichem Orbia (previously Mexichem) is a company providing specialty products and methodologies in the agriculture, building and infrastructure, fluorinated solutions, polymer solutions, and data communications sectors. It was founded in 1953 and has h ...

, with Kibbutz Hatzerim retaining 20%.

Products

Netafim produces

systems and other water technologies intended to increase yields and improve crop production while preserving quality and quantity of water and

soil fertility Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality.

. The company products are designed to provide solutions in the areas of efficient

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

, control and

agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...

for a range of field crops, orchards and vineyards grown under varied topographic and climatic conditions throughout the world. At present Netafim is developing ecological solutions for producing fuel from alternative sources. Concurrently, Netafim is launching a low pressure irrigation system that offers a solution for areas where water pressure and/or electrical infrastructure do not permit using high pressure systems. This development will facilitate introduction of the drip irrigation systems into additional agricultural areas.

Global presence

In 1981, the company opened NII, its first international subsidiary, in the US. Today Netafim maintains 33 subsidiaries and 17 manufacturing plants worldwide, and employs over 5,000 workers. In January 2014, it was announced on

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

that Netafim had won a $62 million water project contract to '' build an automated water pipeline network'' in the southern state of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Since then, Netafim has won additional 7 community irrigation projects in

covering in total 106,000 hectares and 97,000 farmers. In March 2016, it was announced in Globes that Netafim had won a 200 million project in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

to provide an end-to-end irrigation solution for a plantation by the Ethiopian government sugar company. In March 2019, Netafim won a $60 million project in

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

to develop an

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

hub.

Drip irrigation & sustainability

Netafim is involved in several global sustainability initiatives. The company is a member of the UN CEO Water Mandate and UN Global Compact (UNGC), and was named 2013 Stockholm Industry Water Award Laureate for its contribution to sustainable water management. According to company sources, the use of drip irrigation for rice and tomatoes cuts down on greenhouse gases and

nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or factitious air, among others, is a chemical compound, an Nitrogen oxide, oxide of nitrogen with the Chemical formula, formula . At room te ...

associated with algae blooms.

References

{{reflist Agriculture companies of Israel Hydroculture Low-flow irrigation systems Manufacturing companies based in Tel Aviv Agriculture companies established in 1965 Manufacturing companies established in 1965 1965 establishments in Israel Israeli brands Israeli inventions Permira companies Irrigation companies Words and phrases in Modern Hebrew