Israeli start-up offers US farmers higher productivity with less use of chemicals

The Tel Aviv-based Israeli start-up Greeneye Technology, established in 2017, aims to revolutionize the agriculture market by combining green sustainability and crop protection with economic productivity. By using artificial intelligence, the company has reduced the use of chemicals in farming by a whopping 88%.

Greeneye hopes to enter the large U.S. agriculture market and has signed a partnership agreement with Boeck Seed Services, a Nebraska-based agriculture-specialized business.

Nadav Bocher, CEO of Greeneye, welcomed the cooperation with Boeck Seed Services, with a longer-term goal to expand its network for the benefit of farmers and consumers across the United States.

“We are delighted to announce the opening of our first dealership, which represents a significant ramp-up in our U.S. operation,” Bocher said.

“For our business to be truly scalable, we need to establish strong links with local dealers. These are the people that farmers know and trust, and with their expertise and in-depth local knowledge, we believe they are the people best placed to provide excellent service and support for Greeneye customers,” he added.

Cody Boeck, the operations director at Boeck Seeds, noted that weed control is a major challenge for end customers.

“Weed control is without a doubt the biggest challenge facing our customers – and at the moment, it is a challenge they are losing,” Boeck said. “Farmers want to be good stewards and spray less, not more, but at present, there is no way to do that without sacrificing yield.”

Boeck believes that Greeneye’s AI-based system will revolutionize the agriculture market by enabling a dramatic reduction of chemicals without undermining financial profitability.

“Greeneye’s retrofit system will change the game, enabling farmers to significantly reduce chemical use, and costs, without impacting the efficacy of their weed control strategies or reducing productivity, all while continuing to use their existing sprayer. We expect to see very high demand for this technology,” Boeck assessed.

Jerry Boeck, CEO of Boeck Seeds, believes the Israeli start-up will help U.S. farmers receive a return on their investment more quickly.

“In today’s market, the first question farmers must ask themselves when making any purchase is: How quickly can I make this investment profitable? With the Greeneye system, a mid-size farmer will see a return on their investment very quickly,” Boeck assessed.

“At the same time, the benefits the system offers – a significant reduction in chemical use, and costs, and improved efficacy, all with no subscription fees – are very tangible. This makes it very simple for farmers to understand the value that this technology will bring to their operations,” he added.

With limited rainfall and desert covering some 60% of its territory, Israel has sought to innovate with new technologies in agriculture, which it exports worldwide.

Following the signing of the historic Arab-Israeli Abraham Accords in 2020, the new Arab partners are increasingly benefiting from Israel's cutting-edge agriculture tech solutions. In June 2022, Israeli tech boosted the agriculture industries in countries such as Egypt, the UAE, Morocco, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia.

In July 2023, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Israeli President Isaac Herzog announced a joint American-Israeli tech initiative on food security in the Middle East and Africa, specifically water efficiency technologies and access to mobile apps to increase food production.