Farmer's Weekly 1 July 2016

Someone recently showed me a photograph that a friend of theirs had posted on Facebook, showing an aerial view of a city burning. Surely this had been taken in Syria or somewhere equally foreign and besieged by terrorists, I thought. But it wasn’t. It was a photo of one of the townships in Tshwane, following the naming of Thoko Didiza as the ANC’s mayoral candidate for this metro. It was unsettling, but I moved on to my next task after only a very short pause. All media platforms in South Africa abound with detailed reporting on the most heinous crimes, and if we had to pause for every crime we read about, I’m afraid we may never move on again. I can quote many statistics on the level of violence…

“ South Africa at the moment is not a very comfortable place for business. We narrowly escaped a ratings downgrade to junk status by Standard & Poor’s, our gross domestic product has shrunk by 1,2% over the last quarter, and the agriculture industry has recorded its fifth consecutive quarter of negative growth since the end of 2014. Many people are asking themselves whether it’s still worth investing in the country. The truth is that this is the time that risk-takers take chances and challenge the status quo. It is definitely happening in the Western Cape. Over the past year, jobs in agriculture in the province have grown by more than 60%, in spite of the drought and severe water restrictions. Employment went down to 169 000 due to mechanisation in…

In the article, ‘Emerging farmers must be empowered’ (FW, 29 April), Willem de Chavonnes Vrugt quite correctly states that SA does need emerging farmers and, as he says, we need to change the current method of transferring skills and educating aspirant farmers. Best practice has been developed in this field, and experience shows that this model (explained below) does indeed work for empowering aspirant farmers to run profitable, sustainable farming businesses. The approach required is holistic, giving new entry farmers a wide variety of skills, and also providing effective post-training mentorship after they graduate. It is a method that takes considerable time and effort but, in the long run, produces the sustainable, commercial farmers that SA needs. It is important to set the right entry criteria and level of training.…

The Canon IXUS 180 has an 10x optical zoom lens which helps you keep your subject in the frame by automatically detecting the number of people and adjusting the zoom level to determine the optimal size. The IXUS 180 also features Intelligent Image Stabilizer technology, which constantly adapts to the scene to ensure the best images and movies, even when you are on the move. Equipped with the best of Canon’s imaging technology, the IXUS 180 packs a 20 megapixel sensor and advanced DIGIC 4+ processor for ultra-fast responses and superb image quality. Visit www.canon.co.za.…

CONFERENCES & EXPOS 27 TO 29 JUNE Agriculture and Horticulture International Conference, Cape Town. Visit www.agriculture-horticulture.conferenceseries.com agriculture-horticulture.conferenceseries.com. 1 TO 2 JULY SA Bee Industry Organisation’s Annual Conference, Oudtshoorn. Phone Lynette Barnes on 021 865 2050, or email info@capehoneyfactory.co.za. 3 TO 8 JULY Grassland Society of Southern Africa's Annual Congress, Wilderness. Phone Freyni du Toit on 083 256 7202, or visit www.grassland.org.za. 19 TO 20 JULY 4th Annual Africa Women in Agriculture and Agribusiness Summit, Midrand. Email Kelly Siasamba at kelly@amabhubesi.co.za. 21 JULY Intensive Growers' Association's (IGA) Annual Spring-Summer Symposium, Durban Botanic Gardens. Email iga@sai.co.za. 25 TO 27 JULY 1st Annual Agribusiness Forum, Gabarone, Botswana. Phone Kabo Kote on +26 77 334 4001, or email info@fresh-taste.com. COURSES & TRAINING 27 JUNE TO 1 AUGUST Agricultural Livestock Training Academy, George. Phone Di…

4 JUNE 1993 Growing seeds with smoke 23 YEARS AGO In the 1990s, scientists confirmed that smoke triggered the seed germination process of many fynbos species. “To date, 160 species ranging from everlastings and brunias to proteas, Cape reeds and grasses have been screened, with 80 species responding positively. The germination of everlastings, for instance, could be increased from 5% in untreated seed to 80% in smoke-treated seed. “These findings could make commercial plantings more feasible, which would reduce pressure on populations in the wild. Propagation of most fynbos species from seeds is difficult because they are dormant and require specific environmental conditions (cues) before they will germinate. Smoke could also be used to stimulate seed of endangered species in the soil, and contribute to restoring or regenerating selected areas…