Speaking to Farmer’s Weekly, Nico Bernard, an agronomist at Pannar, described the 2024/25 planting season as one of the most difficult in history, particularly in central South Africa, where rainfall was scarce.
“We were a month behind the usual planting dates, which created significant management challenges for farmers. Many wanted to plant, but the soil was too dry. When they finally did plant, everything was planted within a short window, leading to synchronised flowering. This increases drought sensitivity risks, and the heatwave we experienced in mid-January to mid-February further complicated pollination,” he explained.
Bernard said that these pollination issues might not yet be evident to farmers, but could pose problems later.
He added that poor root development, as a result of dry conditions in November and December, could lead to root rot and lodging if rain persisted towards the end of the season.
Bernard said that late planting dates for quick-maturing soya bean varieties had led to smaller-sized plants. “This will make harvesting particularly difficult,” he said.
However, he explained that the recent week-long rainfall provided a much-needed lifeline for crop farmers.
“If not for the rain, we would have seen massive crop failures. Fortunately, it turned the outlook from below-average yields to above-average yields in many areas,” he said.
Bernard also spoke about an unusual increase in beetle and bug populations, which affected crops.
“A lot of [unidentified] beetles and bugs have been an issue, but there’s no major cause for concern at this stage. In contrast, caterpillar, bollworm, and stalk borer populations have been low so far. However, this could change,” he said.
