Perspective-13 April 2007

Have you ever wondered at the flocks of hawk-like birds sitting on telephone wires and poles along some of the roads in the eastern parts of SA?
Issue Date: 13 April 2007

The Industrial Development Corporation and a consortium of private equity partners have concluded a financial package to build and operate a state-of-the-art fresh produce export terminal at Maputo port in Mozambique.
Issue Date: 13 April 2007

AHS threatens SA horse exports again

The recent outbreak of African Horse Sickness (AHS) on an Arabian horse stud farm between Paarl and Franschoek in the Western Cape has once again resulted in a suspension of SA horse exports to the EU.
Issue Date: 13 April 2007

Milk shortage yet another blow to dairy industry

The embattled dairy production industry is experiencing yet another blow following the Milk Producers' Organisation's (MPO's) announcement that the current shortage of milk products on retailers' shelves is likely to continue throughout winter.
Issue Date: 13 April 2007

Maize estimate drops

The extremely isolated and well-below normal rainfall in South Africa's maize-producing areas have resulted in deteriorating growing conditions, and as a result the Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) has once again revised its forecast for the crop downwards for the 2006/07 season.
Issue Date: 13 April 2007

NGOs applaud GMO rulings

Local and international watchdogs have heaped praise on the genetically modified organism (GMO) regulatory authority, the Executive Council (EC), for refusing to allow open field trials of GM cassava in the country and for rejecting an application by seed company Syngenta for the introduction of its GM maize variety 3272 into SA.
Issue Date: 13 April 2007

Bid to declare FS fires a ‘disaster’

Farmers in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal have joined forces in an effort to help their colleagues in the Free State who have lost thousands of hectares of grazing land to massive veld fires
Issue Date: 13 April 2007

TAU SA launches strategy document

TAU SA has launched a strategy for sustainable agriculture which it hopes will change the face of agriculture in SA.
Issue Date: 13 April 2007

Top heads may roll in KZN agriculture

KwaZulu-Natal premier Sibusiso Ndebele has decided to press ahead with disciplinary action against Dr Jabulani Mjwara, head of department for the province's Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs (DAEA), and Petrus Mahlangu, the DAEA's chief financial officer, following allegations of financial mismanagement within the department.
Issue Date: 13 April 2007

‘Food miles’ an export challenge

UK supermarket chain Tesco's planned “carbon friendly” measures, such as the introduction of carbon-counting labelling and restrictions on airfreighted food stocks, has raised concerns about possible knock-on effects for the South African export industry.
Issue Date: 13 April 2007

Red-letter days: memory gateways to the past

When parts of a message are important, we highlight the letters in red and when a certain day is special we call it a red-letter day.
Issue Date: 30 March 2007

How to cure obsessive coffee disorder (OCD)

This is a story about love, loss and a magnificent obsession. It is not for the faint-hearted, nor those easily moved to tears. If you can handle it, read on: a couple of weeks ago my five-star, super-duper, hyper-magnificent Gaggia espresso machine blew its last fuse, melted its last gasket and went to its final resting place in the rubbish bin.
Issue Date: 30 March 2007

Treating windgalls

Around a joint or tendon is a capsule or sheath that produces synovial fluid, which acts as lubrication. If the capsule is damaged by percussion or overstretching, it produces extra synovial fluid. This then makes the capsule bulge. This bulge is called a windgall.
Issue Date: 30 March 2007

More on integrated pest management

A recent visit to a client has prompted another article on integrated pest management (IPM). This farmer has two vegetable farms separated by a few kilometres. He uses wasps to control leaf miner and Hawaiian web worm on beet.
Issue Date: 30 March 2007

Tommy van Zyl, small-team specialist

Tommy van Zyl is a self-employed building contractor who first engaged his passion for racing pigeons from a neat garden loft in the backyard of his Uitenhage home in the autumn of 1983.
Issue Date: 30 March 2007

Getting Doha back on track

Following the suspension of the Doha Development Round of the World Trade Organisation in July 2006, negotiations resumed this February. At a lecture at the University of Pretoria earlier this year, Xavier Carim, SA's chief negotiator at the WTO, emphasised the importance of agriculture in the talks. Wilma den Hartigh asked him about the issues under negotiation.
Issue Date: 30 March 2007

Get a grip on Aids in agriculture

Reminding us that more than 500 000 South Africans could die of Aids this year, Victor Thindisa of the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Limpopo looks at the pandemic's effect on household farm labour in rural communities.

Fendt Vario tractors grow slowly but surely

The Fendt tractor brand is relatively unknown in South Africa. The only enthusiast that I know of is Manfred Wild, formerly of the Tala Valley in KwaZulu-Natal, who has farmed vegetable crops with Fendt Tool Carrier models. Fendt is one of the market leaders in Germany where it has more than 17% of the market.
Issue Date: 30 March 2007

Mycorrhizae: a nutrient and water transport system for roots

If you believe natural is best, then inoculate your soil with the right mix of root fungi or mycorrhizae, says habitat planner Ben Breedlove. They can help in crop production, land-use applications such as roadside management, and also veld rehabilitation. Roelof Bezuidenhout reports.
Issue Date: 30 March 2007

A smart start for future farmers

At Penny Birch's farm school Smartstarts on Amersham farm in Dordrecht in the Eastern Cape, children learn how to rear, feed and sell sheep at production sales. They also get the chance to ride horses, quad bikes, tyre swings, bicycles and a calf or two. Besides these wonderful farm experiences, the academic side of schooling is not neglected.

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