Crops

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.

As a soil’s fertility and condition improve, so the value of the soil increases dramatically. Generally, the price per hectare of farmland does not vary much across a region, but the land’s true value does vary according to its productivity.

Shortly after the Second World War, a ‘Banana War’ erupted between the small producer countries in the Caribbean and the supermarkets, which were starting to flex their buying muscle.

If you have a proper understanding of the soil on your farm, you will be able to farm more efficiently – and get more enjoyment from farming.

I recently visited Harare with Prof Charles Whitehead from the University of Johannesburg for a two-day Banana Ripening and Post-harvest Physiology workshop for the employees of a large Zimbabwe-based farming company.

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.

In the 6 June issue of FreshPlaza.com, I came across an article entitled ‘The rise of Africa’s super vegetables’. “Indigenous vegetables are in vogue,” it said. “As people throughout East Africa have recognised the vegetables’ benefits, demand for the crops has boomed.”

I wrote a column on powdery mildew in peppers some months ago, but would now like to address this important subject more fully.

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.

Apart from reducing cyst eelworm, planting trap crops has other advantages.

I’ve always defended the producer’s right to market his produce as he sees fit. If this includes supplying direct to a supermarket, that’s fine. For a large producer, not having ‘all your eggs in one basket’ is always wise.

An integrated approach to controlling cyst eelworm usually produces the best results, but using a trap crop is perhaps the single most important method.

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.

Over the years, I’ve listened to market people bemoaning the fact that producers supply direct to supermarkets.

The advent of market agents in South Africa goes back to the mid-1800s, when farmers became unhappy with the service provided by the market masters.

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.

In the previous issue, we discussed the fact that beet cyst eelworm is impossible to eradicate once it is established on a land.

Maluti Fruit’s high-risk but focused decisions are paying off for producers, placing the eastern Free State firmly on the apple map.

Driving into the Cape Town or Port Elizabeth markets, you will see rows of people selling apples, oranges, potatoes and other products.

The cyst nematode (eelworm) get its name from the hardened cyst that it forms to protect its eggs.