Orbia, through its affiliate Netafim, signed an agreement for some 85 million dollars to provide irrigation solutions to 35,000 farmers in India.
The contract considers three projects to build irrigation systems under a community system that will be developed over a period of two years.
It is an expansion of the works already established by Netafim in 2017 and 2018, and considers an area of 50,000 hectares, where digital agriculture systems will be enabled that allow control through cloud technologies and access from any mobile device.
“They are a testament to the successful collaboration between local farmers, the Karnataka state government in India and Netafim to improve the livelihoods and quality of life of local communities, through the use of advanced precision irrigation technologies and agricultural solutions. digital, «Netafin said in a statement.
To execute the entire project, Netafim will also train farmers to operate the advanced systems. A wide range of crops are planned for the area, including onions, peppers, corn, peanuts, beans, sunflowers, and other crops.
These projects are an extension of the successful Ramthal community irrigation project in Karnataka state that was completed in 2017, and four additional projects in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh that were secured by Netafim in 2018 and are now being implemented.
Each farmer benefits from an irrigation system that is adapted to his needs and is based on the most advanced technology. Without this collaboration, the individual farmer would not have the knowledge or the financial resources to create his own effective irrigation system.
Orbia in India
Netafim intends to expand the community irrigation project model to other countries characterized by a large number of small farmers.
The scope of regional irrigation projects won by Netafim to date involves 202 villages in India and more than 97,000 farmers in an area of 100,000 hectares (247,105 acres).
The transition to precision irrigation is expected to double agricultural production, improve its quality and save around 40% on water and fertilizer consumption.
Orbia, through Precision Agrigulture (Netafim), owns 17 manufacturing and assembly plants located in Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, China, India, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and the USA , with a volume sold of 6 million meters in 2019.
According to its own description, Orbia focuses on the development of a portfolio of products with added value seeking to create a platform focused on the client to offer solutions and projects according to their needs, creating long-term links.
Globally, the company has developed a state-of-the-art process to purify the fluorite it extracts from its mine at a significantly lower cost, in order to produce HF, as it is a value-added product.
Additionally, Wavin’s acquisition of PolyOne’s US Specialty PVC Resins assets, as well as the recent acquisitions of Dura-Line, Vestolit, Vinyl Compounds, Gravenhurst, Netafim and Sylvin Technologies, are part of the strategy to continue integrating Orbia to products and services with greater added value and to develop increasingly specialized, technological and innovative products and increasingly more solutions known as “humancentered”, in which Orbia has identified and may continue to identify pressing challenges.
In 2019, Mexichem, a manufacturer of PVC pipes, resins, compounds and specialty chemicals with a legacy of more than 50 years, became Orbia Advance Corporation.