CropX Acquires Tule, Further Expands in California

CropX Technologies, a global provider of digital solutions for agronomic farm management, today announced its acquisition of Tule Technologies, a precision irrigation company based in California. This acquisition brings new data capture technologies to the CropX Agronomic Farm Management System and expands its market in California drip-irrigated specialty crops.

The CropX system offers its users real-time mobile and desktop insights and advice on irrigation, disease control, nutrient management and more, based on above-ground crop sensing data and below-ground soil monitoring. Tule brings a complementary new mode of data collection from above the plant canopy that precisely determines crop water use, which will enhance CropX’s artificial intelligence predictions, recommendations, and automations, and add to its solutions for drip-irrigated specialty crops such as tree-nuts and vineyards.

Effective immediately, all Tule employees will join CropX, adding expansive on-farm and client service expertise in the specialty crop and drip irrigation space, as well as technology talent to CropX’s growing global team.

“We are excited to welcome Tule to CropX, expanding our offerings to our customers to solve agronomic problems. With Tule’s canopy data incorporated into the CropX system, CropX is adding a new and powerful dimension to the world’s most complete precision irrigation solution,” said Tomer Tzach, CEO of CropX Technologies.

“At Tule, we’ve admired CropX for their agronomic expertise, engineering excellence, and global ambition,” said Dr. Tom Shapland, CEO of Tule Technologies. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to join the CropX team.”

The acquisition comes at a time of increasing demand for precise watering technologies in agriculture. “The farming industry is at the frontlines of global challenges to balance food security with water and other natural resources,” said Dr. John Gates, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Product at CropX. “We are committed to helping our customers manage water confidently and efficiently with technology. Tule’s unique tech and vast experience with California vineyards and orchards are a perfect fit.”

This is the fourth acquisition CropX has made since 2020 and the second US-based company. CropX acquired Nebraska-based CropMetrics in the first quarter (Q1) of 2020, New Zealand-based Regen in Q4 of 2020, and Netherlands-based Dacom Farm Intelligence in Q3 2021, in each case adding expertise, technologies, customers, data and expanding markets.

Agtech startup Edete brings its artificial pollination technology to the Australian almond market

Israeli agri-tech startup Edete Precision Technologies for Agriculture is due to begin commercial scale field trials of its artificial pollination technology in almond orchards covering dozens of hectares in the Australian state of Victoria. This follows the signing of an agreement with one of Australia’s largest almond growers. The field trials are due to commence in August when the almond trees begin to blossom.

Edete successfully completed field trials in almond orchards in Israel using its unique mechanical pollen harvesting and robotic pollinator system resulting in substantially increased yields. The company is also planning to set up an operational array in California, that will serve the state’s 7,400 almond growers.

“Australia is the second largest almond producer in the world and continues to increase acreage under cultivation in a way that makes the country a key proving ground for us,” said Keren Mimran, co-founder and VP for Business Development and Marketing at Edete. According to Mimran, Edete’s system can also pollinate pistachios, apples, cherries, pears, plums, among others.

The decline of natural pollinators, namely insects and specifically honeybees, has led to an intensified search for a solution to protect crop yields and solve the challenge facing farmers who need to grow more fruits while facing a shortage of beehives for pollinating their orchards. This problem must be solved to meet the food security needs of the world’s growing population. About 75% of the world’s crops rely on insect pollination for yield and quality. Without an alternative pollination solution in the coming years, food security is at risk, food prices are likely to climb sharply, and certain foods might become scarce.

The global almond market is estimated at over $7 billion annually. With growers spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually on beehive services alone, costs are rising. The market structure in Australia is similar to that in California, where less than 10% of the growers account for more than half of the acreage under cultivation.

Edete’s system starts with mechanical collection of flowers, separation of pollen from the anthers and other flower parts and producing pure pollen. The company’s proprietary method enables maintenance of good viability rates of pollen stored for over one year. The best genetically fit pollen is applied on the target trees using the company’s unique robotic pollination system, which uses a combination of technologies to disperse an optimal dosage of pollen on the target flowers for effective pollination. The application units can work during day or night and independent of ambient temperature.

[Pictured above: Keren Mimram, Co-founder]