The nurse who became an award-winning vegetable producer
Vegetable farmer Sophy Litshani Musabeni doesn’t miss an opportunity to broaden her knowledge on agriculture. Doing her own research and speaking to those in the know, she has catapulted herself...
How to make the decision to throw out old seedlings
Whether older seedlings will be productive depends on their size and age, and with seed prices going up, one needs to think carefully before throwing out plants that could still...
A game-changer for ginger production
The biggest obstacle that ginger farmers in South Africa face is securing enough land to allow for at least a four-year rest period before replanting the same land to the...
Preparing seedlings for the season and your conditions
Seedlings should vary according to the season. Bill Kerr shares how he learnt this vital lesson, and offers tips on how to harden seedlings.
Bacterial and fungal diseases of garlic
Garlic can be prone to bacterial and fungal diseases, and it’s important that farmers are proactive in preventing infection and practise appropriate management.
Viruses that can attack a bean crop
Bill Kerr explains how bean common mosaic virus and bean yellow mosaic virus can infect a field and spread, leading to major crop losses.
South African avocado production: a success story
Avocado production in South Africa has expanded markedly since the industry’s humble beginnings over 80 years ago. From a small grove planted in 1938 in what was then Nelspruit, the...
What growers gain by having a seedling germination room
A germination chamber set at about 25°C leads to a high germination percentage and shortens the time span before seedlings are placed out in the nursery, saving the grower money.
New farmers’ seedling pitfalls
Inexperienced farmers may be tempted to grow seedlings from seed themselves, but they have much to gain by trusting a seedling grower at a nursery to perform this task for...
Use the correct growing medium for safe seedling production
Instead of buying expensive growing mediums for seedlings, farmers can make their own mixtures from local resources, such as manure, which are economical and produce excellent results.
Canola: a growing force in South Africa’s agricultural landscape
Zander Spammer, an agricultural resource manager at Southern Oil, spoke to Zunel van Eeden about the growth of the canola industry in South Africa and the main uses for this...
Cherry production in Gauteng: challenging, but possible
Growing cherries in a suboptimal climate requires manipulating trees and temperatures. But with a considerable market advantage, it is worth the effort. Lindi Botha visited ZZ2’s Toscana farm, which for...
