Taking Precision Irrigation to a New Level

Reach non-regulatory announcement

24 January 2022

MTI Wireless Edge Ltd

("MTI" or the "Group")

Taking Precision Irrigation to a New Level

MTI Wireless Edge Ltd (AIM: MWE), the technology group focused on comprehensive communication and radio frequency solutions across multiple sectors, is pleased to announce a new strategic partnership with Viridix, a company which specializes in actionable data analytics for irrigation, based on the RooTense® sensor that measures the water available to the roots of crops.  The strategic partnership will bring together the Group's expertise in automated irrigation and Viridix's data analytics.

Through its subsidiary Mottech Water Solutions Ltd ("Mottech"), MTI provides high-end remote-control solutions for water management and irrigation applications.  

Under the partnership, Mottech and Viridix will co-develop a complete solution, integrating Viridix's Auto-Pilot system into Mottech's ICC PRO real-time irrigation monitoring, control and reporting software, so that for the first time, Mottech's customers will be able to monitor crop root activity and implement an irrigation protocol across their farms in real time, on a field by field basis, adjusting irrigation levels accordingly. The system, using artificial intelligence, can also recommend the exact adjustment required to irrigate individual crops. On average, the technology results in savings of over 30% in water usage while also significantly improving crop quality and yield. This commercial solution therefore aims to achieve the rare environmental objective of producing more with less.

Viridix's RooTense® technology has been operating for several years and is already used by some of Mottech's customers and this has been key to the decision to integrate the two systems. The integration into Mottech's ICC PRO management software should be completed in early Q2 of 2022 and commercial sales will commence thereafter. Mottech will be the exclusive distributor in South Africa and Australia, where it currently has hundreds of existing agricultural customers, and will promote the integrated solution in other territories as well. The cost to the farmer versus the savings made on water usage are very attractive and Mottech expects demand to be high, generating income from set-up costs and recurring income from annual licenses.

MTI's CEO, Moni Borovitz, commented: "We know the Viridix team and their technology well. Some farmers use their technology on a standalone basis and then apply the findings to irrigate their fields. By integrating the two products, our customers can easily control water usage in real time on the same system, and we believe that this can be transformational for individual farms, creating significant financial savings and, as importantly, substantial reductions in water usage each year."

Viridix's CEO, Guri Oron, said: "We are delighted to join forces with Mottech, a leading irrigation solution provider, and we see this as another testament to Viridix's sensing and analytics competency. Mottech's cutting edge irrigation management system combined with Viridix's proprietary technology, will equip growers with a complete solution for their irrigation needs, enabling them to enhance efficiency and yield. We are confident that together we will achieve better sustainability for growers globally."

For further information please contact:

About MTI Wireless Edge Ltd. ("MTI")

Headquartered in Israel, MTI is a technology group focused on comprehensive communication and radio frequency solutions across multiple sectors through three core divisions:

Antenna Division  

MTI is a world leader in the design, development and production of high quality, state-of-the-art, and cost-effective antenna solutions including Smart Antennas, MIMO Antennas and Dual Polarity Antennas for wireless applications. MTI supplies antennas for both military and commercial markets from 100 KHz to 90 GHz.

Internationally recognized as a producer of commercial off-the-Shelf and custom-developed antenna solutions in a broad frequency range, MTI addresses both commercial and military applications.

MTI supplies directional and omnidirectional antennas for outdoor and indoor deployments, including smart antennas for WiMAX, Broadband access, public safety, RFID, base stations and terminals for the utility market.

Military applications include a wide range of broadband, tactical and specialized communication antennas, antenna systems and DF arrays installed on numerous airborne, ground and naval, including submarine, platforms worldwide.  

Water Control & Management Division  

Via its subsidiary, Mottech Water Solutions Ltd ("Mottech"), MTI provides high-end remote control solutions for water and irrigation applications based on Motorola's IRRInet state-of-the-art control, monitoring and communication technologies.

As Motorola's global prime-distributor Mottech serves its customers worldwide through its international subsidiaries and a global network of local distributors and representatives. With over 25 years of experience in providing customers with irrigation remote control and management, Mottech's solutions ensure constant, reliable and accurate water usage, while reducing operational and maintenance costs. Mottech's activities are focused in the market segments of agriculture, water distribution, municipal and commercial landscape as well as wastewater and storm-water reuse.

Distribution & Professional Consulting Services Division  

Via its subsidiary, MTI Summit Electronics Ltd., MTI offers consulting, representation and marketing services to foreign companies in the field of RF and Microwave solutions and applications including engineering services (including design and integration) in the field of aerostat systems and the ongoing operation of Platform subsystems, SIGINT, RADAR, communication and observation systems which is performed by the Company.

About Viridix

Viridix empowers farmers by taking uncertainty out of irrigation decisions. By combining accurate and timely water potential data with additional information such as weather, irrigation protocols and soil characteristics, Viridix simplifies and automates one of the most important operations in farming. Precise irrigation helps farmers optimize productivity, reduce resource consumption and improve sustainability.

The Viridix solution is based on revolutionary RooTense® technology that is cost effective, requires no maintenance and is extremely easy to use. This advanced IoT-based solution leverages AI and machine learning to deliver precision irrigation, taking it to the next level with full-irrigation-cycle automation.

About Reach announcements

This is a Reach announcement. Reach is an investor communication service aimed at assisting listed and unlisted (including AIM quoted) companies to distribute media only / non-regulatory news releases into the public domain. Information required to be notified under the AIM Rules for Companies, Market Abuse Regulation or other regulation would be disseminated as an RNS regulatory announcement and not on Reach.