Crops

Dying trees in plum orchards, just a few years after planting, recently sparked alarm among Western Cape farmers, especially those in the Berg River region. Prof Piet Stassen, a private consultant and stone fruit rootstock expert, shared his recommendations on the subject with Jeandré du Preez.

Every year offers opportunities to gain more experience and understanding of how to improve production.

The casual visitor won’t be aware of it, but for someone like me who is closely associated with markets it is amazing to see the number of people working as market agents who are related in some way or other.

The Ceres Plateau, only recently incorporated into South Africa’s Wine of Origin scheme, is establishing itself as one of the best wine-producing regions in the country. Kallie du Plessis and Hendri Carstens of the farm Dennekruin spoke to Glenneis Kriel about this exciting development.

The name of this column, ‘On the Market Floor’, was chosen for a good reason: the market floor is exactly where you’ll hear all the news in the fresh produce industry.

Providing a steady supply of quality products when marketing your fruit and vegetables will lead to success.

Crop chemicals are expensive and if herbicide spraying isn't optimised, you get poor value for money, writes Bill Kerr.

We need to take certain precautions when growing cauliflower that aren't as important for cabbages or broccoli, writes Bill Kerr.

Talking to market agents these days can be quite depressing. In the past, there were always people you could rely on to give you a more positive view of current issues on the markets or in the sector in general.

Growing vegetables involves multi-tasking. I covered the importance of getting the timing right in my previous article.

Stephan Fourie, who produces potatoes near Frankfort in the Free State, believes that three pillars support success in farming: an excellent product, sound management and good labour relations.

Sugarcane farmer Brad O’Neill won the 2015 Nedbank Eston Show’s Farmer of the Year and Best Milling Cane award in the category 10 000t to 20 000t delivered in the 2014 season.

While working for a large seed company, I once had a chat with one of the directors, a financial fundi who contributed to steering the company in the right direction.

Vito Rugani always used to say, “Remember the power of the brand!” A legend on the markets,

I’m not privy to the inside story on the strikes experienced in the fruit sector recently. According to what I’ve read, Dutoit Group in the Western Cape and Umbhaba Bananas in Mpumalanga have been at the forefront of the current wave.

Fruit farmers in the Ceres Valley will have to manage their water strategically this season, as parts of the region received less than half the annual rainfall. Louis Reynolds of Fruitful Crop Advice provides some tips on reducing water losses.

Growing vegetables is highly competitive, demanding and arguably the most difficult branch of agriculture in which to succeed, especially for new entrants.

The farm Matroozefontein has the most westerly citrus orchards and table grape vineyards in Southern Africa. In this arid area, farming under nets has proved a success.

The move to stock ‘almost perfect’ fruit and vegetables has for many years been an obsession in supermarkets abroad.

Previously, I described how the high mineral content of borehole water could cause mineral build-up on leaf surfaces, with consequences for the application of chemicals.