From Arizona to Africa, farmers saved more than 132 billion gallons of water in 2024 — equivalent to the annual water consumption of more than 3.1 million American households — using an Israeli technology. 

Phytech’s proprietary platform optimizes farming operations using advanced sensors called dendrometers that convey what the tree or plant is “feeling.” 

That data is analyzed algorithmically and translated into practical recommendations sent to the grower via an app.

In 2024, Phytech’s platform was used by over 1,000 producers on a total of 402,426 acres, tracking 43 million trees across 18,000 fields of various sizes in several countries. 

Phytech’s 2024 Sustainable Practices Report shows that its insights led to a 94 percent reduction in water stress — a 20% improvement over industry benchmarks. 

“Farmers worldwide face the challenge of feeding a growing population while meeting resource constraints, regulations, and demand for sustainable, healthier produce,” said Phytech cofounder and chairman Sarig Duek.

“Our mission is to provide growers with in-field actionable insights that ensure optimized yields while driving efficiency and sustainability. Our 2024 report is a testament to the way our customers are leveraging data and leading a digital transformation in agriculture.”

Slashing water and energy use

“Phytech helped us save over 316 million gallons of water in 2024 and cope with the water issues in Arizona,” said Ryan McGuire, ranch manager at Peacock Nuts Company in Kingman, Arizona. 

Vince Giacolone, director of southern farming at Limoneira lemon and avocado farms in Santa Paula, California, said that the company technology allows him to check weather patterns and make changes instantly. 

“I use the Phytech app daily to see if there are stress levels on the trees, to see the irrigation schedule for the week, and to see if we’re completing the irrigation as planned,” he explained.

Phytech’s technology also improves energy efficiency by encouraging smarter irrigation, according to the company. 

In 2024, 90% of the 5.9 million irrigation events surveyed in the report occurred during off-peak hours, lowering energy costs and reducing strain on the power grid.

Less irrigation pumping helped Phytech customers cut carbon emissions by 112,221 tons last year, equivalent to the carbon absorbed by 261,131 acres of forest, while avoiding the use of some 12.6 million gallons of gasoline.

Accessible business model

While many agricultural technologies are too expensive for smaller farms, Phytech’s business model democratizes access and enjoys a 95% customer retention rate, CEO Oren Kind tells ISRAEL21c.

“We invested in three pillars: affordability; a friendly user interface so growers don’t have to be scientists; and selling a subscription service rather than hardware,” he says.

“We never come and say you should do this or that. We want to be your eyes in the field. We want you to know how your trees feel. Our job is only to improve the farmer’s visibility into what’s happening — we let trees do the talking.”

Phytech produces and installs its own hardware, not only for monitoring plants but also irrigation infrastructure. 

Kind says that Phytech was “born in Israel and raised in California and Australia. Now we are expanding globally to South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Uruguay, Guatemala, and Mexico, where there is a lot of agriculture and climate change is driving a need to make better irrigation decisions.”

Thirst before hunger

Kind explains that, like human beings, plants mainly need water, while fertilizer is like food and of secondary importance. Watering too much or too little directly impacts how well the fertilizer will perform. 

“If you screw up one, you screw up the other. That’s the basis of horticulture. Most companies focus on the chemicals to put on the plants, but if you don’t do the basic irrigation right, the rest doesn’t work well,” he says.

And the best way to determine how much to irrigate is by listening to the plants. 

“I have four kids, so I know how frustrating it is when a baby cries and you don’t know why,” says Kind. “It’s the same with fields. It’s challenging to understand what may be wrong. The uniqueness of our company is that we bring to agriculture the datapoints that were really missing: how trees or plants feel in real time.”

Phytech mostly works with specialty crops like stone fruits, grapes, apples, berries, almonds and avocados; and row crops such as corn, soy and cotton. “The technology is similar, though the way they irrigate is very different,” says Kind. 

During 2024, Phytech signed strategic collaboration agreements with two global irrigation powerhouses, Rivulis and Netafim, both Israeli pioneers in this sector. 

Rivulis began integrating its cloud-based precision irrigation subsidiary, Manna, into Phytech’s technology, while Orbia Netafim’s GrowSphere irrigation operating system is integrating Phytech’s technology.

Now a mature, revenue-earning company with 200 employees (80 in the Kfar Saba headquarters and the rest in countries where its clients are), Phytech was founded in 2011 and began selling its service globally in 2014. 

“It is a challenge to bring technology to the very traditional field of agriculture,” says Kind, who comes from a farming family in northern Israel, “but it’s a necessity. And it’s very rewarding when it’s successful.”

The Phytech 2024 Sustainable Practices Report is available here.

For more information on the company, click here.