Opinion

It is time for farmers to adopt regenerative agriculture practices in order to ensure the future of food production, says Mark du Plessis, director of agriculture at frozen food company McCain South Africa.

As we enter the second month of the new year, and South Africa continues to be hit with stages four, five and six of load-shedding, I am reminded that 2024 is now only 11 months away, and there are many things that government must act on to ensure that 2023, 2024 and the years to come are successful ones for the agriculture sector.

Peter Setou, chief executive of the Vumelana Advisory Fund, argues that all stakeholders in the land reform programme should demonstrate their commitment to the strategy in order to drive its success.

In Parliament recently, DA leader John Steenhuisen asked how bad South Africa’s crime statistics needed to be before President Cyril Ramaphosa replaced Bheki Cele as minister of police.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ outlook for cotton production (2022 – 2031) looks at the opportunities and challenges facing the world’s cotton producers.

The South African agriculture sector is heavily burdened with crime. Using the Free State as a case study, Annelie Coleman spoke to industry stakeholders about the true cost of crime to the local farming community, and the threat it poses to the long-term sustainability of food production in the country.

Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of Gift of the Givers, does not believe that South Africa is collapsing, despite its current political, economic and infrastructural problems. One reason for hope, he argues, lies in the compassion and patience of South Africans. He has seen it first-hand for 30 years.

There are many hypotheses on why horseflies may be put off by a zebra’s stripes. In a recent study, researchers concluded that this may be a result of the temperature on darker stripes, rather than the stripes themselves.

In the 6 & 13 January 2023 issue of Farmer's Weekly, we provide our readers with an outline of the agricultural landscape for the New Year, as well as analysts’ predictions in terms of upcoming local production seasons and commodity prices.

According to a new report, smallholders and indigenous peoples can be effective forest managers, as they occupy nearly half of the world’s forest and farm landscapes and are often invested in these areas.

I have made no secret of the fact that I find the world’s treatment of farmers deplorable. This treatment of the people who produce our food and the fibre for our clothing, as well as employ vast swathes of the world’s population, is particularly egregious when it comes to governments.

Education is vital to the transformation of South Africa’s agriculture industry, as well as the country’s economic growth. However, many agricultural colleges are in disarray. Magda du Toit reports on this crucial issue.