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Afro Agri Review Journal > Blog > 2024 > September
23
Sep

VEGETABLE PRODUCTION: POTATO BACTERIAL DISEASES

  • admin / 4 months
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  • 4 min read

We look at the bacterial pathogens that can cause disease in potato plants and tubers. Yield losses and reduced cosmetic value are 2 of the detrimental effects bacterial diseases can have in the potato industry. Of these, Ralstonia solanacearum (bacterial wilt), Pectobacterium spp, Dickeya spp (previously known as Erwinia spp) and Streptomyces spp (common scab) are the most important in South Africa. BACTERIAL […]

23
Sep

CROP PRODUCTION: HOW TO USE PESTICIDES SAFELY

  • admin / 4 months
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  • 5 min read

If you’re a farmer – new or already established – producing crops, you need to know how to handle and store pesticides and chemicals safely and how to protect your workers, and yourself, while doing so. IT IS THE DUTY OF THE EMPLOYER, IN THIS CASE THE FARMER, TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN A SAFE, HEALTHY […]

23
Sep

OBP PULLS UP THEIR SOCKS FOLLOWING SUPPLY ISSUES

  • admin / 4 months
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  • 3 min read

The freeze-drying machine at Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) which broke down about two years ago, will be repaired by June. After that, the company will be able to “produce vaccines at full steam” again. Luvuyo Mabombo, the interim Chief Executive Officer of OBP, said at a media event at the company’s head offices that experts […]

23
Sep

EXCITEMENT MOUNTS FOR ROYAL SHOW’S CORONATIONS OF A DIFFERENT KIND

  • admin / 4 months
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  • 4 min read

Organisers and hosts of the already much-anticipated 2023 Royal Show are determined that this year’s event, which will be the last at its historic location in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, will be “a grand and memorable occasion” for participants and visitors alike. Excitement is mounting among South Africa’s agriculturists and their supporters as the 2023 Royal Show, […]

23
Sep

REPO RATE INCREASE: FARMERS NEED TO TIGHTEN THE BELT

  • admin / 4 months
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  • 2 min read

The South African Reserve Bank’s newest attempt to tighten the belt can be felt in consumers’ wallets and farmers’ operations, says Paul Makube, a senior agriculture economist from FNB Agriculture. The repo rate currently stands at the highest it has been in the past 13 years after it was increased to 7,75% last week. Subsequently, […]

23
Sep

‘AGRICULTURE NEEDS A SEPARATE MINIMUM WAGE’ – KWANALU

  • admin / 4 months
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  • 4 min read

Research done by the KwaZulu-Natal Agriculture Union (Kwanalu) found that the province’s rural employment and economy are being threatened by the demands of the new national minimum wage.  The 9,6% increase in the national minimum wage that recently took effect does not consider the “considerable pressure” it places on the South African agricultural sector in […]

23
Sep

HERITAGE CULTIVATES SUCCESS IN YOUNG CRIMINOLOGIST-TURNED-FARMER

  • admin / 4 months
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  • 7 min read

As a third-generation farmer, Hlobisile Yende follows in the footsteps of her father and grandfather. Since starting farming full-time three years ago without formal experience, Hlobisile has learnt a lot through her father’s teachings, participation in agricultural groups, and online research. Peter Mashala visited her on her family farm in Heidelberg. The Covid-19 pandemic in […]

23
Sep

CRIME SYNDICATES REIGN IN NORTH WEST

  • admin / 4 months
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  • 9 min read

Crime syndicates have such a strong hold on the countryside in North West that many farmers forego a 5% discount on early delivery of inputs rather than risk having them stolen from their sheds. This is the second time in four months that he has been hit by input thieves. So says a farmer from […]

23
Sep

NORTH WEST WILDFIRE: ‘GOVERNMENT IS NEGLECTING ITS RESPONSIBILITIES’

  • admin / 4 months
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  • 3 min read

There is no excuse for either the government or private citizens who own rural land to neglect their responsibilities for the prevention and management of wildfires and the devastation they cause. The devastation, death and trauma resulting from a 25 000-hectare wildfire that tore through part of North West at the end of July may […]

23
Sep

EIGHT GOLDEN RULES FOR SUCCESS WITH REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

  • admin / 4 months
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  • 3 min read

The regenerative agriculture conference in Reitz discussed this agricultural practice in-depth. One of the pioneers of regenerative agriculture in the eastern Free State, Danie Slabbert, shared some of the Riemland study group’s findings over the past 13 years. Regenerative agriculture aims to be more profitable per hectare rather than chasing yields. Slabbert said the transition […]