Coffee grown using drip irrigation reduces its carbon footprint by nearly 60 percent and water use by 56 percent, a new Orbia Netafim Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study found this month.
The three year research, conducted between 2022 and 2024 in Vietnam’s Dak Lak province, also recorded yields more than 50 percent higher per hectare and a 46 percent drop in chemical use per ton of Robusta coffee beans, compared with conventional overhead sprinkler irrigation.
Researchers evaluated the full Robusta cultivation cycle, measuring water and energy consumption, fertiliser and crop protection inputs, and yield performance. The certified assessment found that drip irrigation lowered Global Warming Potential (GWP) primarily through more efficient input use and reduced energy demand.
The findings land as global coffee markets face intensifying pressure from climate volatility, water scarcity, and rising input costs. Coffee is cultivated across more than 10 million hectares worldwide and supports millions of smallholder farmers in Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Central America. Record Robusta prices are pushing growers into new regions where irrigation has become essential for viable yields.
“Precision irrigation is a practical, scalable pathway for coffee growers and companies,” said Ram Lisaey, head of Global Agronomy at Orbia Netafim.
The company links the outcomes to its proprietary Coffee Protocol, refined over six decades of field research and tailored to specific climate zones, terrains, and coffee varieties. Orbia Netafim operates 19 manufacturing plants across 33 subsidiaries and serves growers in more than 100 countries, with the parent group reporting 7.6 billion dollars in revenue in 2025.
The Vietnam assessment extends a portfolio of crop specific LCA studies by Orbia Netafim that previously documented comparable environmental gains in corn and potato cultivation. The push for precision irrigation aligns with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments increasingly demanded across the global coffee supply chain, as roasters and large producers face stricter sustainability reporting standards.
