Field Crops

While Kakamas seedlings and Marianne are old favourites amongst stone fruit producers, new higher-producing rootstocks are becoming available. Dr Piet Stassen shared his findings with growers at an information day near Robertson.

Raka Wines started diversifying its farming business three years ago by introducing winter grains and canola. This was so successful that the enterprise’s canola crop achieved the highest yield in the 2014 Southern Cape canola competition.

The use of chemicals to control pests and diseases in crops is bad news for the environment and the farmer’s bottomline. During a visit early this year to South Africa, Graeme Sait, CEO of Nutri-Tech Solutions in Australia, offered cheaper, natural alternatives.

Last year, Gert Cilliers from Stella in North West decided to plant cotton for the first time since 1993. Gerhard Uys spoke to him about his decision.

The nature of the soil in the southern parts of the Western Cape has up to now limited the full implementation of no-till. However, Human Landboudienste recently tested a disk planter near Riviersonderend that shows a lot of promise in addressing this problem. Glenneis Kriel investigates.

Major apple producers across the world are switching to high-density planting to reduce labour costs, improve fruit quality and increase production. Willie Kotze, research and development manager at Dutoit Group, spoke to Glenneis Kriel about the importance of a well-built trellis system when making such a change.

Nieuwoudtville farmer Pierre Rossouw is conducting trials and implementing conservation farming practices to improve the soil health of his rooibos tea lands and counteract soil erosion due to wind action.

In recent decades, crop scientists have increasingly come to recognise the importance of sulphur as a nutrient in crop production. Dr Elke Bloem, scientific director at the Institute for Crop and Soil Science at Germany’s Julius Kühn-Institut, was in South Africa recently as a guest of Omnia to share her experience with farmers and crop scientists.

It is essential that farmers understand the importance of mineral balance in their soils, says Graeme Sait, CEO of Nutri-Tech Solutions in Australia. He visited South Africa this year to explain this balance.

Although farm labour is still relatively cheap in South Africa compared with some other countries, worker output is much lower. As a result, many farmers struggle to absorb the impact of rising labour costs on farm margins. Fruit farmer Hannes Hanekom of Welgeneem Boerdery in the Witzenberg Valley, Western Cape, spoke to Glenneis Kriel about addressing this challenge.

The self-regulating ecological balance in nature’s soils is what keeps them so sustainably productive. Graeme Sait, CEO of Nutri-Tech Solutions in Australia, says that farmers need to learn more from nature and encourage a similar productive balance in their soils.

The phasing out of methyl bromide and pressure on various synthetic nematicides and other compounds have sparked global interest in the use of certain brassica species to suppress soil-borne pathogens through a process termed biofumigation. These crops can also improve soil health and soil biodiversity, says Niel Kruger, marketing manager at Terason.