New Zealand agritech companies HortPlus and Croptide have signed a partnership to exchange knowledge and expand the scope of the data they provide to growers, enabling customers to look after their crops more effectively and increase yields.

The partnership means Croptide will have access to a feed of regularly updated climate data from HortPlus’s network of weather stations, allowing them to complement the capability of their plant-health sensors and provide richer data to the many growers that use them.

Croptide’s sensors attach directly to plant trunks and stems to assess their water and nutrition needs, providing valuable insights for growers and allowing them to respond in ways that maximise plant health and productivity.

HortPlus Director Mike Barley said Croptide’s data-driven approach to plant health meshed perfectly with HortPlus’ use of high-quality weather data and pest and disease modelling to support better decision-making in the horticulture industry.

“Croptide has an amazing product and the mission and focus of our companies are strongly aligned. By providing accurate weather data in a convenient format, HortPlus will support Croptide to achieve more success for growers.”

He said the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding marks a natural development that started with both companies sharing the same office in Ruahapia, Hawke’s Bay.

Croptide CEO Hamish Penny said teaming up with HortPlus to improve the services they offer to New Zealand growers was an “obvious choice”.

“We can leverage HortPlus’ expertise to provide a more comprehensive offering to New Zealand growers – a major win.”

Other benefits of the partnership include the ability for HortPlus and Croptide to share and align product and development roadmaps and swap technical feedback on the application programming interface (API) they use to link their networks.