Crops

By switching from micro-irrigation to low-flow drip irrigation, macadamia farmer Dawid de Kock has reduced his irrigation water usage by 50%. With the subsequent savings on electricity, fertiliser and labour,...

Many people who enjoy lettuce in their salad may not be aware that it can be a fairly challenging crop to grow commercially. Dicky and Koshik Sitaram, whose family have...

Some growers in the Southern Cape are using nets that can easily be draped over tree rows to protect pome fruit against sunburn. Apart from their convenience and flexibility, the...

Researchers have estimated that, over the past four decades, the world has lost a third of its arable land due to erosion or pollution. Solutions are constantly being sought. Frans...

Viking Farming near East London in the Eastern Cape is a small but intensive vegetable operation that supplies supermarkets and processors across the Eastern Cape and even the Western Cape....

Up-and-coming commercial farmer Daniel Maqala is diversifying further by investing in asparagus. Sabrina Dean visited him to find out more about his journey so far.

With no-till farming, you need to try to gradually increase the organic content of the soil.

Efficient in-field mechanisation is a major contributor to higher yield and lower production costs. Unfortunately, mechanisation also means that machinery wheels regularly compact the soil. According to precision farming specialist...

Company representatives often bombard farmers with products claimed to increase yield at little cost.

Poland is the largest producer of apples in the European Union. On a recent visit to the country, Annelie Coleman met Bartłomiej Brodzik from the Apple Factory, one of Poland’s...

Leafroll virus is a serious threat to South Africa’s viticulture industry: it shortens the lifespan of vineyards and has a negative impact on wine quality.

When the soil contains sufficient organic material, farming becomes far easier and less risky. In contrast, in a chemically based system, the interaction between the minerals becomes critical and complex,...

Johan Jacobs plants lucerne to ensure mega yields from other crops in his niche farming business, as well as a good cash flow for at least nine months of the...

Most farmers are aware that a healthy population of soil organisms is a good thing. What many don’t understand is that the number of soil organisms is directly related to...

Shadrack Mbele has been getting good returns from sugar bean since first planting it in 2014. Sabrina Dean visited him in the eastern Free State to find out more about...

Despite being a vitally important element for optimal crop production, calcium is often largely undervalued by farmers and agronomists. Plant health expert Heather Raymond explains why this outlook needs to...

Willem, Jaco and Kolver Mulke produce onions on a large scale near Douglas on the border between the Free State and the Northern Cape. Sabrina Dean visited their high-tech operation...

The boom in nut prices in recent years is expected to continue as consumers opt for healthier foods. This has increasingly led to farmers replacing their crops with nut trees....

There’s always a market for baby vegetables, and carrots are no exception. In the past, top-shaped baby carrots were the most popular in the frozen range.

Sabrina Dean visited maize farmer AC van Wyk on his farm in the Free State, to gain some insight into how an award-winning farmer tackles a difficult planting season.