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Independent trial · Commercial production

Measured on
real ground.

One controlled university evaluation, three seasons of commercial strawberry production, and a public demonstration harvest. The numbers below are the ones we can stand behind — with their sources attached.

First page of the University of Arizona evaluation report: Evaluation of a Vorterra Unit in an Iceberg Lettuce Production System at the Yuma Agricultural Center, Yuma, Arizona
16-page evaluationK3 Field · 97-day season · May 2026
The University of Arizona report

Not our words.
Theirs.

"The University of Arizona field evaluation showed that Vorterra increased iceberg lettuce yield, improved irrigation conservation, and maintained performance under reduced nitrogen input… Vorterra increased yield by 6.8% to 20.5% across corresponding treatments."
Conclusions — Section 8 of the evaluation report Ali Mohammed, Ph.D. · Assistant Professor & Extension Specialist
School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona · May 3, 2026
8 treatments, factorial 97 day season SDI drip, sensor-scheduled 100% of water through the unit
Inside the data

Every treatment pair
moved the same direction.

Eight treatments in a factorial arrangement — irrigation rate (100% and 75% of the full irrigation threshold), nitrogen (full vs. reduced, −27%), and Vorterra (with or without) — on iceberg lettuce under subsurface drip, scheduled by Irrometer Watermark and Sentek Drill-and-Drop sensors. Planted December 17, 2025; harvested March 24, 2026.

TreatmentWithout unitWith unitChange
100% FIT + full N15.1 t/ac18.2 t/ac+20.5%
75% FIT + full N13.2 t/ac14.1 t/ac+6.8%
100% FIT + reduced N12.1 t/ac13.7 t/ac+13.2%
75% FIT + reduced N11.4 t/ac12.3 t/ac+7.9%
Overall combined51.8 t/ac58.3 t/ac+12.5%

Fresh yield by corresponding treatment pair, Table 6 of the report. Every pair improved with the unit inline.

WATER PRODUCTIVITY · 100% FIT, FULL N
+23.1%

1.549 vs 1.258 tons per acre-inch — the trial's headline efficiency gain.

100% FIT, REDUCED N
+15.7%

Water productivity gain with nitrogen cut by roughly a quarter.

75% FIT, FULL N
+6.7%

Still positive under deficit irrigation.

75% FIT, REDUCED N
+7.9%

Positive under combined water and nitrogen stress.

The finding operators care about most

Soil-moisture sensors showed Vorterra plots under both scheduled 100% irrigation regimes skipped one irrigation event during the season and still out-yielded controls — the report attributes this to improved retention of plant-available water in the root zone. Its first recommendation: pair the unit with real-time soil-moisture monitoring so skips are confirmed by sensor data, never by the calendar.

The Vorterra unit installed inline on the irrigation supply line at K3 Field
The unit on the line. Installed inline at K3 Field — all irrigation water passed through it. (Report, Fig. 2)
Mature iceberg lettuce with soil-moisture sensors visible among the rows
Sensor-scheduled. Irrometer and Sentek instruments among the rows at harvest stage. (Fig. 7)
Research team collecting lettuce heads at harvest, March 2026
Harvest, March 24, 2026. The research team collecting heads for fresh-weight measurement. (Fig. 8)
Request the full report Run these numbers on your acres
A.G. Kawamura inspecting green beans in the field during harvest
Three seasons · Commercial production
A remarkable technology I intend to expand across my operations.
A.G. Kawamura Former California Secretary of Food & Agriculture · Former Chairman, Western Growers
Third-generation grower-shipper, Orange County Produce & Gem-Pack Berries
3

consecutive strawberry seasons on Vorterra

10–20%

season-over-season yield gains reported

Reclaimed

tertiary-treated municipal water throughout

Field visit

The ground good enough to
show the Secretary.

When U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins visited Orange County strawberry country, this is the operation she was walked through — the same commercial program that has run Vorterra for three consecutive seasons on reclaimed municipal water, hosted by A.G. Kawamura with Mark Lopez, President of the Orange County Farm Bureau. The strawberries in her hands came off these rows.

Photograph reproduced as documentary record of a field visit. The presence of any public official is not an endorsement: no federal or state agency, and no serving official, has endorsed Vorterra or its products. Secretary Rollins is identified by title as the 33rd U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

A.G. Kawamura and Mark Lopez with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, holding freshly picked strawberries in the field

On the ground it was grown on. A.G. Kawamura and Mark Lopez with Secretary Rollins in the Vorterra-equipped strawberry field.

Yield figures are grower-reported from commercial production and are not controlled-trial results; the controlled data on this page is the University of Arizona Yuma evaluation. Kawamura is a customer who ran the technology on his own ground for three seasons — not a spokesperson.

Public demonstration · 2026

177,796 lbs from
an acre and a half.

A summer-squash demonstration block grown with University of California Agriculture & Natural Resources, directed by A.G. Kawamura — with the entire harvest donated to Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. A demonstration, not a controlled trial — but one anyone could walk.

UC ANR hosted 1.5 acres 100% of harvest donated
Crates of summer squash from the demonstration harvest, crop rows behind
Second Harvest Food Bank

Grown to give away.

The demonstration block's full harvest went to food-bank distribution across Orange County.

Deployments

Who is already
running these units.

Gem-Pack Berries
Prime Time International
The Ecology Center
Alfarm

Gem-Pack Berries

Strawberries — one of the largest strawberry growers in the United States, and the anchor commercial deployment.

Prime Time International

Peppers at commercial scale — the largest pepper grower in the world.

The Ecology Center

A working regenerative farm and education centre, paired with sensor-based monitoring.

Alfarm

Live on the Water-as-a-Service model — billing monthly under contract.

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