Novel Efficient Water Technologies

Advancements in Drip Irrigation Technology:Methods to optimize the quality and quantity of waterbased on soil type:• Unique features to use saline or brackish waterthat prevent salt accumulation at the roots.• Buried irrigation, in which lateral pipes are buriedat a depth of 50 centimeters - at the plants roots.• Line drippers, regulated and unregulated fixeddrippers, and integrated drippers, which arepre-cast onto the wall of the irrigation lines.• Distribution of fertilizers through drip irrigationsystems, which ensure that components, such asphosphorous, directly reach the roots.Israeli companies like Netafim, Naan-Dan and Plastroare world leaders in drip-irrigation technologies.Facts about Israeli Agricultureand Drip Irrigation:• Drip irrigation has the highest waterefficiency rate in agriculture,reaching a 70%-80% rate, versusopen irrigation, which achieves40%.• According to BusinessWeek 1 ,Israeli firms control half of theestimated $1 - $1.5 billion globalmarket of Drip Irrigation.• Israel exports more than 80% ofits irrigation solutions.• Israel uses drip irrigation on 60%of agricultural land, compared toonly 6% in the U.S.Israeli Irrigation Technology:• Individual Spray Irrigation allows precise irrigation of trees and has an efficiency rate thatreaches 85%. Water consumption using spray irrigation ranges between 30 and 300 liters perhour.• Advanced Computerization of Irrigation Systems allows for real-time operation, monitoring,precision and reliability, pre-programming of irrigation intervals which prevents water waste.This technology can be adapted to all methods of irrigation.• Real-Time Monitoring systems register deviations from the regular quantities of water orfertilizer and shuts down automatically if it detects a problem.• Buried Moisture Sensors provide information regarding moisture levels of the soil whilespecial plant sensors determine irrigation intervals by checking changes in the diameter of thestem or fruit.Advanced Greenhouses:The natural restrictions of soil, water and climate led Israel to develop greenhouse technologies forhigh value-added crops. In order to maximize water availability in greenhouses, Israel developedcomputerized, pre-programmed irrigation processes that optimize water use.7