Facility Design

Orbia Netafim expands with new manufacturing plant in Mexico

Grownetics

12 Jun 2026 — 1 min read

The 30,000-square-meter facility meets growing demand for precision irrigation across the region. The plant features advanced automation designed to support consistent quality, efficiency and reliability, while enabling responsible manufacturing practices.

"We are seeing strong and sustained demand for precision irrigation solutions across the Americas as farmers navigate water constraints, rising costs and the need to improve productivity," said Sameer Bharadwaj, Chief Executive Officer of Orbia. "The new Hermosillo facility strengthens regional supply, brings us closer to customers and positions us to better serve markets where adoption is accelerating." Hermosillo, in Sonora, offers proximity to major farming areas and strong logistics infrastructure, including rail access adjacent to the plant.

Improving access to precision irrigation and automation solutions aligns with broader efforts in Mexico to modernize agricultural water infrastructure. "At Orbia Netafim, we start with the farmers, working closely with them to understand the realities they face each season," said Gaby Miodownik, President of Orbia Precision Agriculture (Netafim).

Why this matters: For operators, this is a water-management story. The useful signal is that direct substrate measurements can help cut drain loss materially without giving up yield or fruit quality, which is exactly the kind of controllable efficiency gain a facility can build on.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does substrate sensing matter in free-drain strawberry systems?

Because drain percentage tells a grower what already happened, while substrate moisture and EC data show root-zone conditions directly. That makes it easier to cut water loss without guessing.

What is the operator takeaway from this trial?

If the thresholds are understood well enough, growers can reduce drain water materially while protecting yield and fruit quality, which makes sensing an operational tool instead of a reporting tool.

"We hope to be able to streamline operations, grow profits and improve our sustainability"

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Getting the most out of drainage management in substrate cultivation

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