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The message is clear: in terms of both quantity and quality, water is a declining resource, and dedicated management is required to make the most out of every drop. Dr Heinz Meissner and Hylton Cruse outlined the advantages of efficient water storage to Lindi Botha.

Honeybees are the world’s best-known pollinators of natural flora and a vast array of food and fibre crops. Yet they are frequently harmed by human activities, writes CropLife South Africa’s operations and stewardship manager, Dr Gerhard Verdoorn.

South Africa is currently engaging with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about declaring a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) containment zone.

Stakeholders in the agriculture sector welcomed the amalgamation of the Ministry of Agriculture with the Ministry of Rural Development, as well as the newly appointed minister.

Extension officers are slowly gaining ground in the fight for food security in rural areas, but many challenges remain. John Mthembi explains to Gerhard Uys why he has targeted schools.

The European Commission’s latest short-term outlook for agricultural markets indicated that maize imports to the EU would increase 38,6% from 14,5 million tons in 2017/2018 to 20,1 million tons for the current season, with the majority of this maize coming from Ukraine.

From halting agricultural imports to bringing agriculture back to schools and the gathering of a great many minds for a land CODESA, these proposals are all contained in the many promises made by political parties as to how they will ensure that agriculture thrives and land is shared fairly should they be voted into power.

In the run-up to this month’s general election, Farmer’s Weekly journalists around the country posed the same questions to the seven political parties that performed the best in the 2014 general election. In addition, three of the most interesting new parties that will be contesting the election on 8 May were also included. The questions were: “As stated in your party’s election manifesto, what is your commitment, firstly, to agricultural development, and secondly, to land reform?”

High nitrate levels acidify the soil, leading to an abundance of weeds. Dr Mac explains how to manage this, and prevent it from occurring.

While intensive and fast-rotation beef grazing systems are becoming more popular in South Africa, the Duminies of Duminy Boerdery in Vryheid have stuck by their extensive continuous grazing system. They explained their strategy to Lloyd Phillips.

To weather the impact of market fluctuations and extreme climatic conditions, producers have to think strategically about farming. Pieter de Jager spoke to Glenneis Kriel about his strategy.

The South African National Consumer Union (SANCU) and the Emerging Black Importers and Exporters South Africa (EBieSA) are contesting the import tariff on chicken proposed by the South African Poultry Association (SAPA).