Orbia Netafim Celebrates 60 Years of Empowering Farmers Through Precision Irrigation
The company marks its six-decade milestone of partnering with farmers to advance global food security and climate resilience
Tel Aviv, Israel, July 2, 2025 — Orbia Advance Corporation’s S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: ORBIA*) Precision Agriculture business Netafim, the global leader in precision irrigation solutions, proudly marks its 60th year of innovation. Since its founding in 1965 on a small kibbutz in the Negev desert, Orbia Netafim has transformed agriculture worldwide by pioneering drip irrigation technology, enabling farmers and communities in 110 countries to grow more with less: achieving higher yields while using fewer resources and reducing environmental impact. This milestone celebrates six decades of innovation, resilience and purpose-driven leadership to address water scarcity and food security; some of the most pressing challenges facing our planet. The urgency for sustainable agriculture has never been greater as farmers face mounting challenges. Last year marked the world’s warmest on record, with climate change accelerating water scarcity and agricultural stress. Today, roughly half the world’s population experiences severe water scarcity for at least part of the year, while agriculture accounts for 70% of global freshwater withdrawals. Though these difficulties have increased in recent years, Orbia Netafim has been at the forefront of working with farmers to address them for decades.
Founded by visionary pioneers in 1965, Orbia Netafim ignited the drip irrigation revolution, redefining how crops are irrigated and grown across climates, soils and topographies. Since introducing the world’s first commercial dripper in 1966, the company has continuously innovated to meet diverse agricultural needs, providing holistic irrigation, fertigation and digital farming solutions. To date, Orbia Netafim has worked with over 8.5 million farmers worldwide, irrigated more than 10 million hectares of land and produced over 150 billion drippers. Since joining Orbia in 2017, Netafim has furthered the company’s mission to advance life around the world by empowering farmers to strengthen global food security through precision agriculture practices.
“As we reflect on 60 years of Orbia Netafim, this anniversary marks not only our lasting impact but also our unwavering commitment to turning obstacles into breakthroughs,” said Gaby Miodownik, Executive Vice President and President of Orbia’s Precision Agriculture business (Netafim). “From our pioneering origins to our role today as a global leader in sustainable agriculture, our journey embodies visionary innovation rooted in purpose and a steadfast dedication to serving the needs of farmers and communities worldwide. Our mission to help farmers grow more with less has never been more urgent, as water scarcity and food security challenges continue to intensify across the globe, and we will continue to boldly innovate and pave the way towards a more sustainable future for all.”
Orbia Netafim has been breaking new ground in agriculture for 60 years. Over the past year alone, the company launched GrowSphere™, a state-of-the-art digital farming operating system, and introduced the first-ever Hybrid dripper with a built-in welded outlet to maximize irrigation efficiency—both marking major technological milestones. Alongside these innovations, Orbia Netafim broadened its global project portfolio, introduced new business models and expanded its carbon credit programs, further reinforcing its commitment to sustainable agriculture and climate-smart farming.
“We take pride in the remarkable journey Orbia Netafim has taken with farmers around the world driven by innovation, shaped by resilience and guided by the belief that together, we can use smart farming to help create a better future for us all,” added Miodownik. “Especially in challenging times, it is this commitment and ongoing collaboration that inspires all of us at Orbia Netafim to push the boundaries of agriculture and create a more sustainable and prosperous future for generations to come.”
To learn more about Netafim’s 60-year journey and explore how precision irrigation continues to revolutionize agriculture, visit netafim.com.
About Orbia
Orbia Advance Corporation, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: ORBIA*) is a company driven by a shared purpose: to advance life around the world. Orbia operates in the Polymer Solutions (Vestolit and Alphagary), Building & Infrastructure (Wavin), Precision Agriculture (Netafim), Connectivity Solutions (Dura-Line) and Fluor & Energy Materials (Koura) sectors. The five Orbia business groups have a collective focus on ensuring food and water security, expanding information access and connectivity and advancing decarbonization and energy transition with basic and advanced materials, specialty products and innovative solutions. Orbia has a global team of over 23,000 employees, commercial activities in more than 100 countries and operations in over 50, with global headquarters in Boston, Mexico City, Amsterdam and Tel Aviv. The company generated $7.5 billion in revenue in 2024. To learn more, visit: orbia.com
About Orbia Precision Agriculture (Netafim)
Orbia’s Precision Agriculture business Netafim is the world’s largest irrigation company and a global leader in precision agriculture solutions that address food, water and land scarcity for a sustainable future. Founded in 1965, Orbia Netafim pioneered the drip revolution, creating a paradigm shift toward precision irrigation. Today, by specializing in end-to-end solutions from the water source to the root zone, Orbia Netafim delivers irrigation and greenhouse projects as well as landscape and mining irrigation solutions supported by engineering, project management and financing services. Orbia Netafim is also leading the way in digital farming, irrigation and fertigation through integrating real-time monitoring, analysis and automated control into one state-of-the-art system. With 33 subsidiaries, 19 manufacturing plants, 2 recycling plants and 4,500 employees worldwide, Orbia Netafim delivers innovative, tailor-made irrigation and fertigation solutions to millions of farmers, allowing smallholders to large-scale agricultural producers and investors in over 100 countries to grow more with less™. To learn more, visit: netafim.com
Media Contact
Adi Ishay
Communications Manager
Orbia Precision Agriculture (Netafim)
adi.ishay@netafim.orbia.com
Katie Hogue
PR and Media Manager, Orbia
katherine.hogue@orbia.com
+1 (224) 496-0568
