Marketing options for small-scale onion growers
For the small-scale onion grower, it pays to stay in production as long as possible in order to satisfy a local rural market.
Excelling at customer services
Four years ago, the Imasa introduced an award for a market, market agency or fresh produce-related business that had excelled in customer services.
Granadillas – a cash crop that requires commitment
Farming granadillas can be profitable, but growers should realise that the crop requires intensive management and significant capital investment. Wilma den Hartigh visited Kosie Eloff’s farm in Limpopo to find...
How to correctly fertilise onions
Fertilising vegetables is not like baking a cake, where we get a consistent result as long as we follow the recipe. With vegetables, we have to deal with different soils...
Quality skills at the markets
In days gone by, it was common practice for a youngster to work alongside his father or uncle in a market agency and learn the trade in that way.
Vegetable crops improve wheat yield
Many small-grain farmers in the Southern Cape have added brassicas in the form of canola to their crop rotation programmes. Jose de Kock talked to Glenneis Kriel about how he...
Canola: effective rotation crop, profitable cash crop
Some 16 years ago, Johannes Joubert introduced canola to his crop rotation system on the family farm Kweekkraal. This not only contributed to the health of his soil, but led...
Raising the bar with cultivar selection
Peter Da Rocha farms cauliflower, broccoli and lettuce near Delmas in Mpumalanga. The operation's focus on cultivar selection for better production efficiency has had a significant impact on the business’s...
Organic farming: a commercial farmer converts
Peter Nicholson of Roselands farm near Richmond in KwaZulu-Natal believes organic farming can be used to sustainably feed the world. He shares his vision with Lloyd Phillips.
Is ‘ugly produce’ a new trend?
‘Ugly produce’, it seems, is finding its way onto retail shelves around the world.
The cavity seedling option
An alternative to the traditional seedbed method for transplants is to use seedling trays. One advantage of this is that you can place the trays in a warmer environment if...
How a family citrus farm became a mega business
With citrus orchards that extend for more than 60km along the Eastern Cape’s Sundays River Valley, Sitrusrand is one of the largest producers in the area, and exports to many...
Value vs price
To many farmers and market agents, price is all that matters. Of course price is important, but these days there’s a lot more to the equation.
Understanding plant breeders rights
I’ve met a few senior people in the fresh-produce sector who don’t know what plant breeders’ rights (PBRs) are.
Table grape farmer increases turnover by 900%
Jacques Beukes is a table grape farmer in the Western Cape, and is always searching for new ways in which to expand and improve his business. Since joining the family...
Enabling good value between farmer and agent
At a recent conference, Tommie van Zyl, CEO of the ZZ2 group, talked about the agency system being a good ‘enabler’, and his remarks got me thinking.
Choose the right onion variety
Choosing the right type of onion can be difficult, as the variety has to suit both the area and the planting seasons.
The fine business of growing micro-greens
Erika Oberholzer produces microgreens and elfin vegetables for local and export markets, as well as herbs and medicinal plants for the essential oils industry, on 7ha in Midrand.
Fresh produce markets and politics
Regular readers of this column will know that I am strongly opposed to political interference in markets.
Planting dates for onions
One of the challenges of growing onions is getting the planting date right. Farmers unfamiliar with this crop would expect to plant it earlier in cool areas and later in...
