All too often, I come across farmers who do not irrigate practically or economically. Applying too much water ends up wasting money, while watering too little can stress the plants. Many farmers use a weekly irrigation schedule: that is, watering once a week for a set amount of hours. But they do this without determining […]
In 2007, Farmer’s Weekly published ‘Qamata: How deep is the rot?’, a 14-page exposé by Stephan Hofstatter on the state of the Qamata irrigation system. Forming the basis of the feature were documents leaked to Farmer’s Weekly that spoke of the “mysterious disappearance of funds and assets, officials indifferent to, or conniving in, financial mismanagement, protracted and […]
Many emerging farmers don’t have access to electricity or sufficient finance when starting up to buy sprinklers or drip irrigation and so they have to use flood irrigation. But that doesn’t mean it’s an inferior system. For many years, I practiced flood irrigation on about 100ha and harvested up to 150t/ha of cabbage. There are […]
South Africa’s average annual rainfall is 495mm, compared with the global mean of 860mm. It is for this reason that South Africa is considered water-scarce and is classified as one of the world’s 30 driest countries. Most of South Africa’s freshwater resources are supplied by summer rainfall that is often poorly distributed, which leads to […]
Innovative South African technology using ultrasonic sound to clean drip irrigation pipes has been extensively evaluated by the Agricultural Research Council – Institute for Agricultural Engineering (ARC-IAE) in 2003, 2012 and recently. The results of the latest tests are the most promising yet. The technology was developed by local farmer, Leon Lingnau. A long-time user […]
Many of South African rivers from which water is drawn for agricultural irrigation purposes are carrying extraordinarily high pathogenic loads. Produce irrigated using this water are often minimally processed fresh fruit and vegetables or products that are eaten raw. The risks of using this water to produce edible crops have been weighed against the backlog […]
The guidelines for weed control in wheat apply to barley. It is essential to identify weeds correctly, as different chemicals are used to control broadleaf and grass weeds. The only herbicides that are suitable for the control of the latter in barley are Hoelon, Ravenger and Grasp. Follow the recommendations on the label. If the […]
The root systemIrrigating the soil too far below the crop’s root system is pointless. Applying more water than needed could leach nutrients such as nitrate to beyond the reach of the roots. Added to this is the expense of extra pumping. The root systems of carrots, for example, go down beyond a depth of 2m. […]
In January this year, producers in the Lower Olifants River had access to only about half their water quota. What happened? A break occurred in the irrigation canal on 7 January. The canal runs at full capacity at this time of year, with a freeboard (the vertical distance between the water surface and the crest […]
The Virtual Irrigation Academy (VIA) is a website where farmers can learn how to improve crop yields through better management of irrigation water, soil nutrients and salinity levels. The Virtual Irrigation Academy (VIA) is a website where farmers can learn how to improve crop yields through better management of irrigation water, soil nutrients and salinity […]
