Bayer, a global life sciences company, and Orbia’s precision agriculture business Netafim announced an expanded collaboration aimed at improving digital farming solutions for fruit and vegetable growers. The new partnership seeks to simplify data collection processes and provide tailored recommendations to growers, helping them increase crop production and use resources more efficiently while reducing environmental impact.
New Digital Solutions for Horticulture
The collaboration focuses on delivering synergetic digital solutions for horticulture. While the adoption of digital tools in agriculture has grown in recent years, existing tools have not fully addressed the challenges faced by fruit and vegetable growers. Many growers struggle with switching between different software applications, which complicates their daily operations. In response, Bayer has introduced a new platform, HortiView, designed to simplify data collection and sharing in fruit and vegetable cultivation. The platform enables growers to access an ecosystem of connected agronomic services that support data-driven decision-making and market access.
Tailored Irrigation Recommendations
Alongside HortiView, Orbia Netafim has developed tailored irrigation insights to be delivered through the platform. These recommendations are customized for each grower based on the primary data they provide in HortiView. Unlike a one-size-fits-all approach, this system offers growers unique irrigation strategies that are suited to their specific needs and cultivation practices. Furthermore, the expanded collaboration includes connectivity to GrowSphere, Orbia Netafim’s integrated irrigation system, which optimizes irrigation, crop protection, and fertigation applications.
Addressing Growers’ Needs
Chris Pienaar, Fruit & Vegetable Digital New Value Lead for Bayer’s Crop Science division, highlighted that the digital tools available in horticulture are often fragmented, making it difficult for growers to use their data effectively.
“Digital technology offers tremendous value in horticulture, but those digital tools rarely work together, and it’s been extremely difficult for growers to use their own data in data models that can help them optimize crop production use. Bayer and Orbia Netafim can address these pain points and provide growers with a platform that can generate tailored recommendations specific to their unique environments, cultivation practices, and crops.”
Testing and Future Availability
A select group of grower advisors is currently testing the new solutions and providing feedback, which will guide their wider rollout in the future. The collaboration aims to help growers make more informed decisions, optimize crop production, reduce agricultural input costs, and enhance operational efficiency.
Also read: BW Fusion, Biodyne, Agronomy 365 Merge to Form Unified Agrotech Platform
Building on a Strong Partnership
The expanded collaboration builds on a longstanding relationship between Bayer and Orbia Netafim. The two companies have previously worked together on various initiatives, including the Better Life Farming program, a crop protection solution for U.S. almond growers and joint projects to support the European Union’s Farm2Fork initiative.
Looking Ahead
Bayer and Orbia Netafim plan to continue exploring opportunities to enhance digital connectivity across agriculture and connected value chains. Ofer Oveed, SVP Technology and Crops at Orbia Precision Agriculture (Netafim), expressed optimism about the collaboration, stating, “By combining our agronomic and technological expertise, we can help farmers globally address challenges such as climate change and rising input costs, and ultimately contribute to food security through sustainable agriculture.”
