Crops

The beautiful city of Verona, situated in the northern part of Italy, plays host to the country’s largest and most important wine expo, Vinitaly. The annual event attracts almost 150 000 visitors and has become a hub for the international trade in Italian wines. Denene Erasmus reports.

In frosty areas, growers usually want to start planting as soon as it’s safe to do so. But due to late frosts, the timing isn’t always easy to determine.

While it’s well-known that the vast majority of South Africa’s land reform transfers have failed due to factors such as inadequate post-settlement support, in Mpumalanga the opposite is happening, thanks to TSB Sugar’s proactive approach. Lloyd Phillips reports.

Controlling weeds has become a big issue with the increasing cost of labour. Fortunately, when it comes to the cucumber family, there are several options to reduce weed growth as well as your need for labour.

Lufuno Managa, a young farmer from Limpopo, found that big dreams don’t only come true in big cities. He left Pretoria to return home where he is now growing tomatoes and vegetables and living his dream. Peter Mashala spoke to him.

Readers of this column will know that I have written many times about the ‘oil’ that drives the fresh produce engine – that all-important trust between the farmer and the market agent.

Quality beer needs quality barley and there’s not enough of it in South Africa. RD Erasmus, well-known Western Cape barley producer, spoke to Jacques Claassen about how he has optimised his farming practices and geared his production towards improving quality and yield.

The challenges of agriculture and the highly competitive nature of international trade make it absolutely essential for us to have support services that supply statistics, information, research, market access, transformation, education and training so we can stay abreast of developments – and even forge ahead on occasion.

With an estimated R1 billion spent on expanding and building new soya bean processing facilities, the South African soya industry is poised to unlock value for farmers and processors.

Cold areas will soon get their first winter frosts. Minimise the damage by taking certain measures. Most often, a light frost will occur about a week into May in cold areas.

The concept of a farmers’ market is probably the oldest version of agricultural marketing we know and remains a popular choice for many all over the world.

You don’t fertilise cucurbits solely according to the plant’s requirements – you also have to take into account the soil’s fertility.

Irrigating in the correct quantities and at the right frequency are key to greater production in a hydroponic greenhouse system. Greenhouse specialist Martin von Holdt shared his knowledge on the ideal irrigation strategy with Lindi van Rooyen.

This year, top honours in the Hex Valley Table Grape Association Block Competition went to Hannes du Toit, who successfully manipulated the tricky and relatively new Sugrasixteen grape variety to produce a good quality, high yield crop with big berries. Denene Erasmus reports.

I’ve been devoting so much time to the spacing of Cucurbitaceae because this aspect is so little understood and has been a limiting factor for countless producers over the years.

Last week, I provided a ‘Market Agent’s Checklist’. But, as with most things in life, it turns out this checklist is far from one-sided.

Willie Nel, recipient of Rooibos Limited’s Producer of the Year Award, says sustainable rooibos production depends on a rotation cycle that will ensure consistently good quality yields. Denene Erasmus reports.

In the last issue, the importance of spacing Cucurbitaceae was discussed. Aspects other than climate will influence the spacing.

The list that follows is by no means complete, but should serve as a guide to any producer who wants to check if they’re getting the best value for their money from their market agent.

Cactus pear cladode production is a good enterprise for farmers in semi-arid and arid parts of South Africa. It requires little input costs and is highly sought after as animal feed. Supplier Danie van Tonder can hardly keep up with the demand. Annelie Coleman reports.