On the back of the recent launch of NetaJet™ 5G, an adaptive precision fertigation solution powered by GrowSphere™ technology, in the Southern and East African market, comes exciting news from the global market.
The Netafim 5G Dosing Portfolio has been announced as the winner of the “Precision Fertilization Solution of the Year” award in the 7th annual AgTech Breakthrough Awards program conducted by AgTech Breakthrough. Based in the USA, this organisation analyses global FoodTech and AgTech markets to identify and recognise standout technologies driving digital transformation of the end-to-end food supply chain.
Fertilizer has become one of the most constrained and costly inputs on the farm, yet conventional dosing systems remain reactive and operator-dependent, often requiring manual calibration and struggling to stabilise under changing field conditions. The result can be over-application, nutrient waste and inconsistent crop performance. Netafim Dosing 5G solutions take a different approach to fertigation, treating it as an optimisation solution rather than a dosing task.
The full Dosing 5G range includes several fertigation solutions for different use cases and markets. Netafim Southern & East Africa places strong emphasis on testing technologies in local conditions before officially launching these products into the market. Farmers and irrigation suppliers are encouraged to speak to their local Netafim representative about available solutions.
The GrowSphere™ platform was launched for the Southern & East African market in 2024 and has been making an impact on many farms since. Since then, the system has been active across farms in the region, supporting a range of crops and production scales. The fertigation systems offered in our market has also been scaled up from the previous generation. “We recently launched the NetaJet™ 5G, which incorporates the new and advanced injection technology. The fertilizer injection method used by Dosing 5G solutions is a game changer that is linked to the AI-driven learning and precise fertigation injection,” explains Nickie Theron, Netafim Southern & East Africa’s Product Manager specialising in Digital Farming. “We are extremely proud of this accomplishment in California,” he adds.
The launch of NetaJet™ 5G came after approximately two years of field testing. The launch event took the form of dedicated dealer training, equipping suppliers to support farmers in applying the new technology successfully. This reflects Netafim Southern & East Africa’s commitment to introducing solutions that are fit for local farming conditions, while also building the skills needed to apply these technologies optimally.
The Netafim Dosing 5G product range is designed to advance precision fertigation through AI-automated dosing technology, intuitive remote control and real-time monitoring. The system continuously analyses key hydraulic and agronomic parameters, including flow, pressure, EC and pH, and automatically adjusts nutrient and water delivery to maintain stable, accurate conditions throughout each irrigation cycle. Its self-learning capabilities help growers respond to changing crop needs and field conditions with less manual intervention, while integration with the GrowSphere™ platform brings irrigation and fertigation into one connected workflow, enabling farmers to plan, manage and validate the process from a single digital environment.
“Dosing 5G reflects our commitment to delivering intelligent, comprehensive solutions that help farmers make better decisions, improve performance and farm more sustainably,” said Ofer Oveed, VP, Technologies & Crops at Orbia Netafim. “This recognition reinforces what drives our innovation, helping farmers succeed with greater precision, efficiency and confidence in an increasingly complex world.”
“We are very proud of this achievement, and it is very well deserved. This is just another stepping stone, this time in the fertigation space, on our journey of continuous innovation as market leaders in this industry. We continue to work hard to develop advanced solutions and intelligent practices that will help farmers grow more with less,” added Michael Esmeraldo, Managing Director of Netafim Southern & East Africa.
The AgTech sector is rapidly redefining how food is produced, managed and distributed, transforming one of the world’s most essential industries. From AI-driven crop analytics and precision farming platforms to sustainable agriculture solutions and autonomous equipment, AgTech is delivering greater efficiency, transparency and environmental responsibility.
The mission of the annual AgTech Breakthrough Awards program is to recognise the innovators transforming the global agricultural and food production landscape through technology. The program conducts a comprehensive analysis of the companies, technologies and solutions redefining the industry. “Input efficiency has been one of the strongest themes across this year’s entries, and fertigation is becoming one of the most important areas of innovation in precision agriculture,” said Bryan Vaughn, Managing Director, AgTech Breakthrough. “Dosing 5G stood out in our evaluation for how completely it automates a task growers have long managed by hand, and for delivering that capability across an entire product line rather than a single device. We are proud to recognise Orbia Netafim as our 2026 Precision Fertilization Solution of the Year.”
