Crops

As if a cabbage farmer does not have enough to contend with, a destructive new disease is currently doing the rounds.

A senior manager at a large market said to me the other day that market managers (MMs) “need to get out of their fancy offices and on to the market floor – that’s the only way they can get a real feel for what a market is all about”.

Reliability, performance and tradition in one unique lamp.

Willem Kilian and Ernest Dube of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) Small Grain Institute in Bethlehem, and Henzel Saul of the institute’s branch in Stellenbosch, report on trials conducted on two new wheat cultivars for the winter rainfall region.

A pathological condition in plants is caused by disease, whereas a physiological condition is caused by non-living (abiotic) factors such as physical injury, frost, water stress or something similar.

Some pundits maintain that our fresh produce markets are over-regulated. I confess that I cannot make up my mind on the issue.

It is very important to recognise and correct mineral deficiencies as soon as the first signs appear. Any delay is likely to have a profound influence on yield.

Dissie Kruger established his wheat, maize and soya bean farm on undeveloped land among the barren hills around Orania in the Northern Cape – and created an economically sustainable model farm.

Act 12 of 1992, which regulates market agents, places strong emphasis on what a market agent may and may not do with a producer’s money.

The Lower Orange River, the country’s second-largest table grape-producing region, is known for its extreme summer temperatures during the peak harvesting season. Farmers have to plan carefully to optimise water usage without wasting this resource. Jaco Visser spoke to table grape and raisin producer Stefaans Zaaiman.

White blister (Albugo candida) is also sometimes referred to as white rust.

The ARC-Grain Crops Institute recently published its 2013/2014 National Maize Cultivar Trials results. Farmer’s Weekly presents the results for the best-yielding hybrids in South Africa’s eastern maize production region.

We have to face facts: politics plays a disproportionate role in fresh produce markets. I use the word ‘disproportionate’ because what politics contributes in perceived benefits is far outweighed by the very real disasters it brings to markets. (I’m happy to supply examples on request.)

The ARC-Grain Crops Institute recently published its 2013/2014 National Maize Cultivar Trials results as well as the multi-seasonal results dating back to 2008/2009. Farmer’s Weekly reports on the results for short-growing season hybrids.

Clubroot is an extremely serious disease; if it gets into your lands, it can destroy the entire crop.

Many small-scale and other farmers seem to believe the only way to sell their fruit or vegetables is directly to a supermarket or wholesale buyer.

The Joubert family, who farm grain and livestock on the Cape south coast near Riversdale, produce their award-winning wine in an area not normally associated with viticulture.

In my initial 12 years of cabbage farming I never came across Sclerotinia. I had encountered it in beans before, but never cabbage.

Occasionally I deviate from the norm and try to give readers some insight into the wider world of fresh produce.

No-till is now a well-established farming practice worldwide, with many benefits for soil health and crop yield. Bruce Shepherd feels that it should be combined with cover cropping.