Orbia Advance Corporation’s Precision Agriculture business, Netafim, has launched GrowSphere FLEX, a smart irrigation and fertigation controller designed to bring advanced digital farming tools within reach of smallholders and mid-sized farmers.
The new system expands Netafim’s GrowSphere portfolio, giving smaller operations access to connected automation designed to optimize irrigation, improve resource efficiency and enhance crop performance.
The launch targets a major gap in global agriculture. Farms smaller than two hectares account for about 84% of farms worldwide and produce roughly one-third of the world’s food. Yet many small and mid-sized growers remain underserved by digital automation systems designed for larger commercial farms.
FLEX is built to address that gap with quick installation, built-in cellular connectivity and flexible configurations that can be adapted to different crops, field layouts and farm requirements.
Through GrowSphere Workspace, farmers can remotely manage irrigation and fertigation, monitor field and system performance, and receive sensor data, reports and alerts. Cloud-based insights are designed to help growers make faster operational decisions, while Crop Advisor provides crop-stage-based recommendations.
The launch also strengthens Netafim’s broader digital farming strategy. GrowSphere already has thousands of users managing more than 100,000 hectares across dozens of countries. FLEX is positioned as the solution for smaller and mid-scale operations, while GrowSphere MAX provides more advanced capabilities for larger commercial farms.
“Innovation in digital farming cannot stop at large-scale agriculture,” said Gaby Miodownik, President of Orbia’s Precision Agriculture business (Netafim). “With FLEX, we are bringing Agriculture 4.0 within reach for farms of different sizes, needs and stages of digital adoption. It reflects Orbia Netafim’s commitment to expanding access to smart irrigation and fertigation, giving more farmers practical tools to manage their operations with greater clarity, control and confidence.”
Designed for a broad range of agricultural environments, FLEX can operate in open fields, orchards, vineyards, citrus farms, greenhouses and nurseries. It supports soil-based systems and is designed to perform under challenging hydraulic conditions.
The controller has also undergone an extensive beta phase over the past year, with real-world installations across multiple regions used to validate its performance under different climates and irrigation setups.
For growers, the focus is ultimately on gaining tighter control over water, nutrients and crop performance without adding unnecessary complexity.
“On a smaller farm, every irrigation decision shows up quickly in the crop,” said Theo Minnaar, a sugarcane grower in South Africa. “What FLEX gives me is better visibility and more control. I can see what is happening, respond earlier and manage water and nutrients more accurately without making the system complicated.”
