Vegetables

A Highveld farmer I knew once desperately needed seedlings and turned to a supplier in another region. I still recall his shock when the consignment arrived: the seedlings were far...

The debate over food prices continues to hold centre stage. This is understandable, given that poor families in South Africa spend roughly a third of their household incomes on food,...

To produce optimal results, seedlings must be in good condition when planted, and thereafter cared for properly until they are established.

Husband-and-wife team, Miki and Cathy Clark, knew nothing about farming when they began their small-scale herb production operation on 1,2ha of land five years ago. Now they produce over 2t...

Senescence is the aging of fruit and vegetables until final decay, when they have to be discarded.

If allowed to flourish, predators and parasitoids can control certain pests almost entirely.

Market management and agents. Infrastructure. Farmers. Buyers. These are the four pillars of the fresh produce market.

My interest in integrated pest management (IPM) was sparked many years ago when carrying out brassica trials.

Ask any market agent what the toughest aspect is about dealing with farmers, and the reply will probably be: “Criticising their products.”

Integrated pest management (IPM) combines various methods to control pests.

The trust relationship between producer and market agent is the oil that lubricates the fresh produce engine.

I often see a large amount of lettuce left behind on the land after harvesting.

Dear black market agents, over the years I’ve met most of you and have noticed two consistent themes.

Organic farmer Geoffrey Green of Sparrow Village Farm has created a farming operation on just 0,4ha of land in Maraisburg, Gauteng.

Lettuce big-vein disease is transmitted by the soil-borne fungus (Olpidium brassicae).

The international farming community must contend with numerous pest and disease threats to their crops, as the pressure of an increasing global population mounts. According to Schalk van der Merwe,...

According to a FreshPlaza.com report by Anton Bothma, Kenya has set about improving avocado quality standards in order to compete better in Europe.

There are two fairly common bacterial diseases of lettuce that most lettuce growers will come across from time to time:

In the previous issue, I wrote about justice being done when a market agent, Vian Coleske, was sent to prison for fraud affecting producers and others.

The following fungal diseases are fairly common in lettuce.