By Invitation

Hans Vermaak, president of the Professional Hunters’ Association of South Africa (Phasa), explains why he is worried about Botswana’s looming hunting ban.

By 2030, the world will have one billion more mouths to feed. To meet this growing food need, we require a sustainable, enabling agricultural environment. Can this be achieved in 17 years? Nedbank Capital’s Zhann Meyer thinks it can, but we need to act now.

Australia is using broadband to revitalise farming. SA is falling behind, warns Santam’s Gerhard Diedericks.

At the recent National Emergent Red Meat Producers’ Organisation’s annual general meeting, Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform Gugile Nkwinti spoke about the reasons for some of the department’s policies.

The past year in agriculture has been fraught with labour unrest and tense negotiations between organised agriculture and the state. Speaking at Agri SA’s annual congress in Pretoria, the organisation’s president, Johannes Möller, spoke about how realism was needed on both sides.

According to Charles Darwin, the success of a species is not determined by its relative strength or intelligence, but by its ability to adapt to change. The same applies to countries, businesses and individuals, says former president FW de Klerk.

There are seven billion people on earth today. It is estimated that by 2050, this will have increased to nine billion. Aidan Connolly of Alltech and Kate Phillips-Connolly of the Centre for Global Business Systems, Trinity College, discuss the role of agribusinesses in feeding this mega-population.

Addressing the Kwanalu congress last month, chairperson Brian Aitken urged farmers to share their skills with staff and developing farmers. This would help to create greater security and certainty in the commercial farming sector.

Game ranchers are unhappy with the idea of treating certain indigenous species as aliens, writes Roelof Bezuidenhout.

Trout, carp and bass, introduced to SA more than 100 years ago, are now listed as invasive alien species. Fly fisherman Ian Cox talks about the impact of this on the freshwater fishing industry.

Demand for healthy protein has put game meat on the menu. It’s leaner than domestic livestock meat and has other health benefits, says Dr Maretha van der Merwe, consultant to WRSA.

At a recent symposium on the safety of genetically modified (GM) crops, Dr Pieter Mulder, deputy agricultural minister, asked that views on the technology be based on sound scientific facts and not emotion.