Stephan & Seun was founded in the 1960s when the Stephan family planted their first potatoes in the Piketberg sand. Today, the team consists of around 140 permanent members who, in Johan Stephan’s words, “specialise in potatoes”. Their path crossed in the 1970s with that of Agrico (at that time P Andrag & Seuns). Decades […]
South Africa’s agriculture sector is on the cusp of a devastating catastrophe because of the country’s inability to provide sufficient electricity to keep the wheels of the agricultural value chain rolling. This was according to Nicol Jansen, Agri SA deputy president and president of Agri Northern Cape. READ A sustainable lifestyle on a small, off-the-grid farm […]
Designed specifically for South African conditions, the NOVAP Sub-Surface Water Diffuser facilitates deep root irrigation and supplies water directly to a plant’s root system. As no water is exposed to the soil surface, moisture loss through evaporation is dramatically reduced. Ferdinand de Klerk, NOVAP’s brand manager, says the system was developed and patented in Cape […]
Two of the biggest challenges facing agriculture are the unreliable supply and quality of water. Speaking at the Combined Congress of Soil, Horticulture, Weed and Crop Production Scientists held in Bloemfontein earlier this year, Dr Willem de Clercq, a researcher at the Water Institute at Stellenbosch University, said these and other demands on agriculture needed […]
Mike Kruger has produced a variety of forestry, fruit, lawn and ornamental plant seedlings under intensive conditions in KwaZulu-Natal’s Cramond area since the 1980s. During this time, he has learnt that irrigating his crops with contaminant-free water is an absolute necessity. READ Designing an irrigation system according to soil type Untreated irrigation water can carry […]
A plant’s temperature can serve as an early warning sign of an underwatered and stressed plant, which makes monitoring crop temperatures a priority for many farmers. Infrared cameras can detect heat and convert it into an image, but are large and expensive, making them impractical for most farmers. Infrared sensors are less expensive; however, they […]
Agrico’s new GPS module, which can be used with the company’s other Internet-based control systems on the web-based Rain interface, enables improved control over pumps according to the specific need of the pivots. This can result in impressive energy savings. The module can be installed on any electrical pivot to monitor pressure at the end […]
“If you don’t know when to irrigate and how much water to apply, as well as when not to irrigate, you risk over-irrigating, wasting water and fertiliser, and placing the plant under pressure. There’s also a risk that you may under-irrigate and limit the plant’s production potential,” says irrigation expert and agronomist, Robbie Childs. “The […]
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 […]
