Vegetables

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, technical manager for the SA subsidiary of ADAMA Agricultural Solutions, integrated pest management is the only sustainable solution to this problem.

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.

When a market agent is caught defrauding a farmer, a long and complex legal process is put in motion. Yet often it seems as if nothing is being achieved.

We focus on spotted wilt and lettuce mosaic virus. Both can be controlled, and even avoided, with the correct agronomic practices.

I hammer on about the importance of farmers visiting the market whenever there is an opportunity.

The pea leaf miner (Liriomyza huidobrensis) probably originated in South America.

The Produce Marketing Association (PMA) recently announced the resignation of Marianne van der Laarse as its Southern Africa representative.

What should you ask yourself when deciding which vegetables to plant? Vegetable expert Bill Kerr explains.

Having already addressed bollworms, this week we discuss the control of aphid, cutworm and leaf miner in lettuce crops.

I’ve heard rumblings from on high that it should be compulsory for bigger farmers to allocate, say, 20% of their produce to a black-owned market agency.

One pest has caused severe damage on almost every lettuce farm at some time or other: the African bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera).

In his Managing for Profit column of 5 February, Peter Hughes tells how leadership expert Fred Kiel found that businesses managed by people of character made returns up to five times higher than businesses whose leaders indulge in questionable behaviour.

The manner in which lettuces are transplanted makes all the difference to the profitability of a crop, as all subsequent practices and expenses up to maturity remain the same.

I recently attended the annual producers and market agents’ information day hosted in Ceres by Korkom.