Research Insights

Precision Irrigation Tools

Companies like Netafim, CropX, and HydroPoint provide farm-level irrigation technologies. These typically use soil sensors linked to dashboards to help farmers decide when to water crops. Some MENA startups offer soil-monitoring devices or basic decision-support tools.

Limitations

• Siloed: Focus on single fields or urban networks; no end-to-end view across agriculture, aquifers, desalination, reuse, and cities
• Hardware-Heavy: Expensive sensors required for each farm; adoption costs are high
• Not Scalable: Fragmented solutions make it difficult to coordinate water allocation or national planning

Plant & City-Scale Digital Twins

• Used in Europe and Singapore for urban water management (leaks, pumping, drainage)
• Limited to industrial or urban systems, not agriculture — the largest water user in Saudi Arabia

The Gap

Current tools cannot provide a national-scale view. What’s missing:

• Immediate solutions for farmers to save water
• A stepwise intelligence layer connecting farms → aquifers → desalination → cities
• Software-led, data-driven management without heavy hardware dependence

Durra.ai fills this gap, creating the first fully integrated National Digital Twin of Water.

Innovation: The Durra.ai Approach

Durra.ai is one of the first National Digital Twins of Water, designed to tackle Saudi Arabia’s water crisis in two strategic phases. The approach focuses first on irrigation efficiency, the largest source of water waste, then expands to cover the entire water cycle.

Phase 1 – Smart Irrigation

Target: Agriculture, the largest water consumer in Saudi Arabia (~80% of freshwater withdrawals, vs. 70% global average).

The Problem: Up to 40% of irrigation water is wasted through inefficient methods such as flood irrigation. Leading countries achieve <15% losses, highlighting a huge improvement opportunity.

How Durra.ai Works

• Combines satellite imagery, soil & salinity sensors, and weather forecasts
• Uses AI models (LSTM forecasting and XGBoost optimisation) to give farmers clear, actionable advice on when and how much to irrigate

Benefits for Farmers

• Reduces over-watering and lowers energy costs from pumping
• Cuts fertiliser waste
• Increases yields by 20–30%
• Saves 20–40% of water within a single growing season

Strategic Advantage

• Immediate ROI builds trust and adoption
• Every irrigation cycle generates Saudi-specific data on crops, soils, and climate, creating the foundation for national scaling

Phase 2 – National Water Twin

Building on Phase 1 adoption and datasets, Durra.ai expands to a full National Digital Twin of Water in three steps:

1. Integration

• Connects aquifers, desalination plants, wastewater reuse, and urban demand into a single national system
• Breaks down silos that limit city twins and farm-only tools

2. Prediction

• Uses advanced AI to forecast demand, stress, and risks across all sectors
• Enables proactive planning rather than reactive management

3. Simulation

• Allows policymakers to run “what-if” scenarios before major investments
• Example: Testing crop shifts, desalination plant expansion, or water tariff changes
• Ensures sustainable allocation and avoids costly over-investment in energy-intensive infrastructure

Impact

• Creates a living intelligence layer for national water security
• Links farm-level improvements to national-level planning
• Positions Saudi Arabia as a first mover globally in integrated water governance

Technical Approach

Durra.ai is a multi-layered intelligence system that collects, analyses, and optimises water and crop data. It provides practical advice to farmers today and strategic planning tools for policy makers tomorrow.

Durra.ai System Layers

1. Fusion Layer – Data Collection and Cleaning ​

• Brings together satellite images, soil and salinity sensors, weather forecasts, and farmer input (crop type, planting date, growth stage).
• Checks for errors (e.g., faulty sensors) and creates a reliable farm profile.

2. Prediction Layer – Forecasting Water Needs

• Uses advanced AI models to predict crop water loss over the coming days.
• Considers rainfall, temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and crop conditions.
• For Example, Durra.ai can tell a farmer: “Your field will need 15 mm of water in the next 48 hours.”

3. Optimization Layer – Practical Scheduling   ​

• Converts forecasts into actionable irrigation plans.
• Optimises timing and quantity to save energy, prevent over-irrigation, and reduce soil salinity.
• Example: “Irrigate in two shorter cycles at night instead of one long cycle in the afternoon.”

Data Sources

Durra.ai is unique because it integrates multiple streams into one platform, providing richer insights and better accuracy than solutions that rely on a single data source.

This multi-source integration makes Durra.ai more accurate, scalable, and adaptable than solutions that depend only on hardware sensors or static research models.  

Scientific Validation

Durra.ai’s impact is measured using Paired-Plot Trials, a gold-standard approach in agricultural research:

• Control plots: Farmers use their normal irrigation methods.

• Treatment plots: Irrigation follows Durra.ai’s recommendations.

Continuous Learning

Durra.ai is a learning system that becomes more accurate with each season. It continuously records, analyses, and improves its recommendations, creating a unique Saudi-specific intelligence layer.

• Every cycle records the recommendation, the action, and the outcome.
  
  
• These records create a unique dataset linking Saudi crops, soils, and climates to results.
  
  
• At the end of each season, the system is retrained on the new data, improving forecasts and recommendations.
  
  
• Agronomists review anomalies and feed their expertise back into the system, ensuring human oversight.

Durra.ai evolves with climate change, local crop varieties, and farmer practices, creating a national data asset that global competitors cannot easily replicate.

Technical Approach & Impact​

Durra.ai combines multi-source data, advanced forecasting, scientific validation, and continuous learning to deliver actionable insights. Farmers get easy-to-use advice that saves water and increases yields, while the platform builds a national dataset to support smarter water planning.

This technical approach makes Durra.ai innovative, practical, credible, and scalable, going beyond current siloed and hardware-heavy solutions.

Track Record in Agriculture

From feasibility studies to full-scale implementation strategies, our team has supported leading clients in shaping the future of sustainable agriculture.

Scale

180,000 m²

Products

Cherry tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, looseleaf lettuce, butterhead lettuce, packaged salad

Our Role

Products analysis, concept assessment, potential business model, targeted segments analysis, competitors analysis, marketing strategy, distribution strategy, pricing strategy

Scale

11,611 m², 840 tons annually  

Products

Cherry tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, looseleaf lettuce, butterhead lettuce, kale, baby spinach

Our Role

Proposed location analysis, market assessment and proposed products, operational model, technical requirements, manpower planning, technologies assessment, financial feasibility analysis for different scenarios and farming technologies (hydroponic, aeroponic, and aquaponic) 

Scale

Vertical farming with 1,000 aeroponic towers

Products

Premium types of leafy green crops

Our Role

Products analysis, concept assessment, potential business model, targeted segments analysis, competitors analysis, marketing strategy, distribution strategy, pricing strategy

Impact

The potential impact of Durra.ai is both immediate at the farm level and strategic at the national level. Its phased design ensures results are practical, measurable, and grounded in the realities of Saudi agriculture.

Yield Gains ​

Improved irrigation is not just about saving water, it also helps crops perform better. Applying water at the right time and in the right amount reduces stress on plants and can increase productivity. Based on controlled trials in other regions and initial testing in Saudi Arabia, yield improvements of 20–30% are realistic. This allows farmers to harvest more food from the same land while using less water, creating a double benefit for food security and resource efficiency.

Cost Reduction and Farmer Return on Investment ​

Farmers benefit financially in two ways: by cutting unnecessary costs and improving yields. Reduced pumping hours lower energy bills, while more efficient water use decreases fertilizer leaching and input waste. Since Durra.ai is a software service without heavy hardware costs, the investment is small compared with the value of the savings it generates. Importantly, farmers can begin seeing results within a single season, which builds trust and encourages broader adoption.

Energy Use and Greenhouse Gases ​

Water, energy, and climate are closely connected. Every liter of water pumped requires energy, and every unit of fertilizer applied contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. By cutting irrigation volumes and optimizing fertilizer use, Durra.ai reduces electricity or diesel consumption and fertilizer-related emissions. On a larger scale, more efficient water use can reduce pressure to expand energy-intensive desalination plants, which are major contributors to Saudi Arabia’s water-related carbon footprint.

Environmental Benefits ​

The benefits extend beyond water and energy. Over-irrigation often leads to fertilizer runoff, chemical pollution, and soil salinity, which degrade farmland and harm downstream ecosystems. By recommending only the water that is truly needed, Durra.ai helps maintain soil fertility, reduce chemical runoff, and protect long-term land productivity. While some benefits accumulate over years, they create lasting environmental impact.  

National Data Asset ​

Every irrigation cycle contributes to a growing record of how Saudi crops, soils, and climates interact. Over time, this creates a proprietary national database, improving recommendation accuracy and supporting broader food and water security planning. Unlike global solutions that rely on generic models, this Saudi-specific dataset becomes a long-term national asset.

Alignment with National and Global Goals ​

Durra.ai supports Saudi Vision 2030, advancing sustainable water use, food security, and environmental stewardship. It also contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), and SDG 13 (Climate Action). By aligning with both local and global frameworks, Durra.ai strengthens Saudi Arabia’s leadership in sustainable innovation.

Market & Scaling

The Addressable Market in Saudi Arabia  ​

Saudi Arabia is the natural starting point for Durra.ai, facing one of the most pressing water challenges in the world. Agriculture is the largest consumer of water in the Kingdom, and the country has more than 1.5 million hectares of cultivated land across wheat, barley, dates, vegetables, and forage crops.

Not all land is equally suitable for digital twin technology at the start. Based on crop type, farm size, and readiness to adopt new technology, around 500,000 hectares of high-value crops and large commercial farms are considered the serviceable market for Phase 1. At current software-as-a-service (SaaS) pricing models, this represents a near-term market of over $200 million. This estimate focuses on farms with the scale and incentive to invest in efficiency rather than assuming immediate adoption across all land.

Expansion to MENA and GCC ​

Water scarcity is not unique to Saudi Arabia. Across the Middle East and North Africa, agriculture consumes the majority of freshwater and faces similar inefficiencies. Countries such as Egypt, Morocco, and Sudan manage millions of hectares of farmland under increasing water stress.

Within the Gulf Cooperation Council, nations like the UAE and Oman are expanding agriculture in arid climates, heavily relying on desalination and groundwater pumping. Together, these markets account for over 5 million hectares of farmland that could benefit from Durra.ai within five years. Even partial adoption could expand the addressable market to over $1 billion.

The drivers of this expansion include rising government investment in sustainable agriculture, international pressure to reduce water waste, and the demonstrated results of early Saudi pilots.

Adoption Strategy ​

Scaling Durra.ai requires more than technology. It requires building trust, demonstrating value, and aligning with national strategies. The adoption approach is designed around three key pillars:

1. Farmer-first onboarding

Farmers are at the center of Durra.ai’s design. The platform offers an Arabic-first, voice-enabled interface that is easy to use in rural settings. A dedicated Farmer Success Team provides training and support, ensuring farmers understand the recommendations and see immediate benefits in lower costs and improved yields. Adoption begins with early adopters who are willing to test the system, while word-of-mouth and proven results drive broader trust.

2. Agribusiness Pilots

Large-scale agribusinesses and food companies are natural partners because they manage significant land, have the financial resources to invest in innovation, and are directly impacted by water inefficiency. Partnering with these organizations allows Durra.ai to demonstrate impact at scale, build strong case studies, and refine technology in real-world conditions. These pilots create reference customers that inspire adoption across the sector.

3. Agency partnerships

Collaboration with government bodies is essential for a national digital twin. Durra.ai works closely with the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA), the Saudi Water Authority, and universities to integrate with national data systems and align with water policies. These partnerships create credibility and enable scaling from farm-level adoption to a true national intelligence layer. 

Market Opportunity​

Durra.ai’s market opportunity is both large and urgent. In the near term, Saudi Arabia alone represents a $200M market, focusing on 500,000 hectares of serviceable land. In the medium term, expansion across the MENA and GCC region could bring the opportunity to over $1B as adoption grows. By combining farmer-first onboarding, agribusiness pilots, and government partnerships, Durra.ai is positioned to scale realistically, first by proving its value on Saudi farms, and then by becoming the benchmark for water-smart agriculture across the region.

Milestones & Roadmap

Year 1 (2025) — Saudi Pilots (Paired-Plot Trials)  ​

Activities

• Controlled pilot trials on selected Saudi farms using paired-plot methodology (farmer-managed vs. Durra.ai-managed).
• Collect high-quality soil, crop, and weather data.
• Provide training and support through a Farmer Success Team.

Outcomes

• Measurable results: water savings of 20–40%, yield gains of 20–30%.
• Trust built with farmers.
• First Saudi-specific dataset created to strengthen the AI engine.

Years 2–3 (2026–2027) — Rollout to 20+ Farms and Early Adopters ​

Activities

• Expand adoption to at least 20 commercial farms across Saudi Arabia.
• Focus on high-value crops and large-scale producers.
• Establish agribusiness partnerships, integrate IoT sensors and weather stations.
• Enhance software features based on pilot feedback.

Outcomes

• Proven commercial viability of Durra.ai.
• Paying customers with recurring revenue base.
• Richer dataset across regions and crops.
• Strong positioning as a trusted tool in Saudi agriculture.

Years 3–4 (2027–2028) — Expansion to MENA + Agency Integration in Saudi ​

Activities

• Extend operations into Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, and the GCC.
• In Saudi, integrate with MEWA and the Saudi Water Authority.
• Connect farm data with aquifer, desalination, and reuse datasets.

Outcomes

• Regional footprint established with Saudi as reference case.
• Strong agency partnerships bridging farm-level adoption and national planning.
• Recognition as a regional leader in smart irrigation and water management.

Year 5 (2029) — Full National Digital Twin of Water ​

Activities

• Launch a complete national platform integrating agriculture, aquifers, desalination, reuse, and urban demand.
• Provide real-time monitoring and policy “what-if” simulations for decision makers.
• Offer national dashboards and reporting tools.

Outcomes

• Saudi Arabia becomes the first country with a full National Digital Twin of Water.
• Smarter water allocation reduces costly desalination reliance.
• The Kingdom positioned as a global leader in AI-driven water governance.