Uri Segev: Bringing N‑Drip’s Advanced Microirrigation Systems to Arizona
An N-Drip system installed in Nebraska.
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‑Drip wants to help solve the global water crisis by helping the world’s farmers convert flood irrigation to gravity-powered microirrigation. Its system, developed by Israel’s former water commissioner, Professor Uri Shani, transforms existing flood infrastructure into cost-effective, precise drip systems, without the use of filters or pumps. Irrigation Leader spoke with N‑Drip’s U.S. vice president for business development, Uri Segev, about how N‑Drip is helping farmers become more efficient so that they can increase yields with much less input, one field at a time. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
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Uri Segev: We are in Phoenix, Arizona. We made a strategic decision a little over a year ago to move our headquarters from California to focus on the Arizona market. Irrigation Leader: What are your current projects in Arizona? Uri Segev: We are currently working in two areas. In Yuma, Arizona, we are converting thousands of acres of citrus fields from flood irrigation to our N‑Drip system. We are also converting alfalfa fields along the Colorado River. Within the next few months, we plan to open another strategic location in Casa Grande to service the Pinal Feeding Company, one of the largest cattle feeding operations in the Southwest. Irrigation Leader: How is N‑Drip different from traditional drip irrigation? Uri Segev: N‑Drip is the first microirrigation system powered by gravity alone. It transforms existing flood irrigationleadermagazine.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF N-DRIP.
Uri Segev: I’m originally from Israel. I was born and raised on a kibbutz in a small farming community and grew up among cotton and cornfields. To conserve water in Israel’s desert and semiarid climate, flood irrigation had already been forbidden, so I got to see efficient drip irrigation at work. When I relocated to the United States in the mid1990s, I changed direction from farming to real estate finance. Then, 3½ years ago, I got the opportunity to join N‑Drip as vice president for business development in the United States.
Irrigation Leader: Where is N‑Drip headquartered in the United States?
