Crops

With careful planning you can make sure you don't end up with far too much of certain vegetables and not enough of others, writes Bill Kerr.

You can lose a lot of money if your crop goes to seed when you don't want it to. You need to know why and when this happens to take precautions.

'I see three previously disadvantaged farmers, but not one commercial farmer, market agent or buyer on the panel. They account for most of a turnover exceeding R8 billion and they don't even have a say!'

Vegetable farmer Gary Fyvie is using green manure crops to replenish tired soil and to fight weeds.He told Robyn Joubert how he sacrificed 6% production for healthier soil over the long term.

Despite repeated calls to plant less maize, producers still managed a bumper maize crop of nearly 14 million tons in the 2009/10 season, pushing maize costs down to import parity.

Most farmers don't pay enough attention to what's happening in the soil. We usually take our soils for granted - we only monitor the chemical composition, if that, and often leave that up to the fertiliser supplier.

Depending on which side of the fence you are on, 13 August proved to be a watershed day in the fresh-produce market sector.

Leafy greens like lettuce is an important part of most people's diets, especially as we approach the warmer months and salads return to our menus.

The answer is yes and no. IT depends. A prime benefit of organic produce is that it's free of pesticide residue, which is blamed for the progressive increase in cancer.

Something quite significant has happened on the Durban market. I recently contributed to a week's training session there for prospective salespeople. The significance is that this was a joint venture between the Durban Market Authority and the Durban Market Agents, the first of its kind on markets in South Africa.

When Brad Turner began to farm in the Queenstown region in 2005, many in the area warned him about the size limitations of his 900ha stock farm, Mountain Glen. Undaunted, he began producing vegetables under irrigation that today contributes 89% of his turnover, a feat that recently resulted in his crowning as the 2010 Eastern Cape Toyota / Agri SA Young Farmer.

Studies have found that marigolds increase the populations of nematode-trapping fungi, and other fungi that attack and destroy eelworm eggs.

Last week I gave A broad view of the issues surrounding credit sales on fresh-produce markets.

Moving from 600ha in Underberg to a 2ha tunnel farm in Margate involved a major leap of faith for Lewis and Charmaine Alcock. Today, they have reach peak production with tunnel farming with cucumbers.

Reading about using marigolds to suppress eelworms piqued my curiosity, so when the opportunity arose, I tried it for myself.

The latest agricultural technology can help farmers improve their maize yields. But, as farm manager Lorenz Freese proves, decades of practical experience combined with old-fashioned hands-on management can get the job done just as well.

Farmers exterminate weeds without understanding their role in soil ecology, says Nutritech Solutions CEO Graeme Sait. An expert on high-production sustainable agriculture, he spoke to Sonja Burger about the potential benefits of weeds and alternatives to controlling them with herbicide.

Different vegetables require a "push" at different stages, which is why it is important to understand how nitrogen works in the soil, and its subsequent availability.

The debate about which is more desirable, commission- or wholesale-selling of fresh produce, has bounced around the industry for years.

Many farmers apply nitrogen in the form of ammonia and can’t figure out why the crop doesn’t respond. It’s important to understand that, while plants can take up ammonia, most ammonia will be unavailable because of its position in the soil.