Table of contents for 24 March 2023 in Farmer's Weekly

I recently attended a media day held by the Southern African Agri Initiative in Pretoria. The event was aimed at drawing attention to the Zimbabwean government's handling of the supposed compensation to be paid to farmers who had been removed from their land during the land grabs there in the early 2000s (see page 24). Members of the media and some of these farmers had been invited to attend. During the briefing, the farmers shared their experiences. Their stories are the stuff of nightmares. In most cases, political activists and affiliates invaded these farmers’ land, burnt down their houses and destroyed infrastructure. Some producers were forced to flee in the middle of the night, with nothing but the clothing they had on. Their farmworkers were, in some instances, beaten and…

On 27 February, Mohammed Sadiki, Moroccan Minister of Agriculture, announced the implementation of an irrigation component of the Bouhouda hydroagricultural development project, Afrik21 reported. For the irrigation component of the project, water would be pumped from the Bouhouda Dam built on the Oued Sra. The project included the construction of several different infrastructures, Afrik21 said. These consisted of a connection pipe between the Bouhouda Dam and a pressure-and-flow regulation structure; an 11 950m long underground pipeline between the dam and the Bouhouda perimeter; irrigation water distribution networks; sanitation and traffic lanes; and hydrants and plot outlets, adapted for drip irrigation. “Of the 55 million cubic metres of water retained by the Bouhouda Dam, the annual volume reserved for agriculture amounts to 15 million cubic metres. The Moroccan government will draw…

More than half of Ireland and Britain's native plants have declined since the 1950s because of agriculture, climate change and invasive alien species (IAS), according to a new report quoted by BreakingNews.ie. The research project, Plant Atlas 2020, conducted over 20 years and published by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI), also found that IAS now outnumbered indigenous plant species. “While [increased temperatures] have helped some species spread north, such as the bee orchid, it is forcing mountain plants like the snow pearlwort to retreat,” BreakingNews.ie said. “Nitrogen enrichment, habitat degradation and changes in grazing pressure have led to the decline of species such as heather and harebell, while damp meadows being drained have caused a substantial decline in devil's-bit scabious.” The study found that 62% of Britain's…

Retail prices for ginger have sunk as low as R30/kg as ample rains have diminished quality and larger volumes flow into the market. Since prices for ginger shot up to R300/kg during the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers planted more ginger, swinging the supply-anddemand curve towards lower prices. Mpumalanga ginger farmer Steyl Willemse noted, however, that the market was correcting itself, and due to the lower price, less ginger would be planted in the coming season. “Prices last year were far below average, dropping to R20/kg. Since late February, prices have climbed to around R60/kg as volumes and quality were subdued because of rain.” The Lowveld area of Mpumalanga received unprecedented amounts of rain at the start of the year, creating perfect conditions for fungi to flourish Willemse said that while there…

South African Breweries (SAB), a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), recently celebrated its Hop Harvest in George in the Western Cape. Zoleka Lisa, vice-president of corporate affairs at SAB, gave an overview of the company's role in the South African economy during the event. While SAB earlier in the week announced that it was in a retrenchment process that would affect 40 jobs, she said the company employed over 5 700 people in its various operations across the country. She said that SAB also procured approximately 95% of its ingredients from about 1 300 South African farmers, of whom 1 120 were black, and the company managed to increase local malting barley production by 70% over the past five years. She added that SAB placed a high premium on…

Zimbabwe's commercial farmers who lost their land during that country's large-scale expropriation of white-owned farms are sceptical about the Zimbabwe government's recent compensation offer. This is according to Dr Theo de Jager, chairperson of the Southern African Agri Initiative (SAAI) board. According to Bloomberg, Zimbabwe's government was offering to settle a US$3,5 billion (about R64 billion) land compensation deal over 10 years. This was the latest change to an agreement signed in 2020 with farmers who had lost their land more than two decades ago. Initially, the government had offered payment terms of 20 years, but had since decided to speed up the process, according to Zimbabwe's finance minister Mthuli Ncube. Ncube said the compensation would be financed through Treasury bonds with prescribed-asset status, and would not be liable to…

What is plasticity in cattle? Phenotypical plasticity is the ability of an individual animal to change in response to stimuli or inputs from the environment. The response may or may not be adaptive, and it may involve a change in morphology, physiological state, or behaviour, or a combination of these. The phenotype is all of the physical characteristics of an organism other than its genes. How is plasticity determined and measured? Several analytical models are used to explain the genetic basis of plasticity responses. The main and not mutually exclusive ones are: • Over-dominance. Here, the plasticity is an opposite function of the number of heterozygous loci. Heterozygous, as related to genetics, refers to having inherited different versions (alleles) of a genomic marker from each biological parent. Thus, an animal…

The Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) says that after Tunisia became a French protectorate in 1881, the French “progressively took over administrative responsibilities for many sectors, including agriculture”. French settlers and commercial companies acquired substantial farmlands, including those that were under religious trust or tribal common ownership. “Apart from the unrest among Tunisians caused by this policy, the production of olive groves and vineyards went up,” says the GFRAS. “In 1897, a livestock laboratory was established, followed by the Colonial School of Agriculture in 1898. In 1913, the Botanic Service of Tunisia was formed, and in 1924, an oceanographic station was set up at Salammbo. “After gaining independence in 1924, Tunisia established several agricultural research institutes. There is, however, little information available on the subject of agricultural extension.…

A new study has revealed some promising results in reducing methane emissions during the fermentation processes in livestock slurry, the ScienceDaily website recently reported. In laboratory tests, researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany combined slurry from a farm with calcium cyanamide (CaCN2), a chemical that has been used as a fertiliser for more than 100 years, resulting in a 99% drop in methane production. The effects of the CaCN2 started around one hour after the chemical had been added to the slurry and lasted for roughly six months. Felix Holtkamp, a doctoral student at the Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation at the university and one of the researchers on the study said that the long-term effectiveness of the CaCN2 was crucial, as slurry couldn't simply be…

At the 22nd sale of the wool season, 11 533 bales were on sale. A sales clearance of 93,79% was achieved, according to Cape Wools SA. Of the Merino wool on offer, 63% was Responsible Wool Standard-certified. The offering consisted of good-quality fleece, with 65% testing 20 microns and finer. Despite this, the market indicator continued to drop on the back of a stronger rand, with the non-RWScertified wool closing 2,8% down on the previous sale to close at R174,88. RWS-certified wool dropped 2,1% to close at R187,28. Major buyers were G Modiano SA (2 477 bales), BKB Pinnacle Fibres (2 090), Standard Wool SA (1 991) and Tianyu SA (1 886). At the OVK auction, 2 942 bales were on offer, with a sales clearance of 99,29% achieved. The…

Follow us at @FarmersWeeklySA @FarmersWeeklySA When we posted a link to an article titled, ‘Big decisions ahead for new Land Bank CEO’ (see page 24), some of our followers posted messages of congratulations for Themba Rikhotso, Land Bank's new CEO. Posted: 8 March 2023. READERS’ COMMENTS Milton Laing: “Awesome Themba. So happy to see good things coming your way. Best wishes in this exciting new role.” André du Plessis: “Stunning, Themba! Our best wishes and prayers are with you for a super successful and impactful season. May you be blessed with strength and wisdom.” Jabu Mashinini: “Congratulations, my brother, and all the best.” Kagisho Dichabe: “This is absolutely amazing! Congratulations, Themba. Land Bank is in good hands.” Eric Freemantle: “I think this is a brilliant appointment and will help sort…

Unemployment, poverty and inequality in South Africa remain a persistent menace despite government's various strategies and funding for skills development. Some argue eliminating these challenges is a pipe dream in an economy not showing any visible signs of growth, while others maintain skills development is a much-needed key driver of economic development. That is, needless of how the economy is performing, skills development must remain a priority. In South Africa, 250 000 learners drop out of school each year before reaching matric. The high dropout rate means millions of young people with no matric and no skills to sell in the marketplace are dumped onto the labour market. HARSH REALITY Imagine 100 learners entering the school system in grade 1 and only 50 to 60 of them reach matric 12…

The South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) expects table grape volumes inspected for export to be 20% lower than they were last season and 11% lower than the first estimate made in October 2022. According to the latest estimate, about 63 million 4,5kg-equivalent cartons would be inspected for export this season, with the upper and lower limits of this figure projected at 103% and 97% respectively. In December, SATI reduced its original estimate due to unfavourable climatic conditions in various regions. The estimate for the Orange River region was adjusted to 19,5 million cartons, down almost 30% from last season and 18% lower than the initial estimate. The estimate for the northern regions was revised to 5,1 million cartons, down 32% from last season and 18% on the original estimate.…

Free State Agriculture (FSA) has strongly condemned an incident in Verkeerdevlei in which Hendrik Steyn (55) was recently arrested and charged with various contraventions of the Animals Protection Act (No. 71 of 1962) after the discovery of a number of wild animals kept under inhumane conditions on his farm. “These kinds of actions are completely unacceptable and should be met with the full might of the law. Keeping animals under such harsh and cruel conditions [is] extremely upsetting and contravenes all moral principles. “We are thankful to the parties that uncovered the criminal treatment of the animals and put a stop to it,” Gernie Botha, CEO of FSA, told Farmer's Weekly. Steyn, who was also charged under Nature Conservation Ordinances, appeared in the Brandfort magistrate's court and was released on…

EGYPT Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation El-Sayyed El-Qusair said that Egypt accomplished self-sufficiency in nine fruit and vegetable harvests as well as some other crops, adding that there was enough surplus to be exported, Ahram Online reported. El-Qusair added that Egypt was close to achieving selfsufficiency in sugar, and had markedly narrowed the gap in the production of some staples including wheat and maize. In 2022, Egypt exported 6,5 million tons of agricultural produce valued at US$3,3 billion (about R61 billion). The top exports were citrus, potatoes, fresh onions, and grapes, amongst others. NIGERIA The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recently said that low crop yields, post-harvest losses, food safety concerns, and weak implementation of relevant policies were some of the reasons that Nigeria's agriculture…

SPAIN According to Spain's agriculture minister Luis Planas, poor planning by Britain for Brexit and cold weather conditions were to blame for a shortage of salad items in Britain. Spain is one of Britain's leading suppliers of fruit and vegetables. According to Reuters, British supermarket chains imposed limits on customer purchases of tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, as southern Europe and North Africa suffered crop losses due to unseasonable weather. However, the FEPEX association of exporters of fresh products recently said that Spain's vegetable and fruit production was recovering and that supplies for export markets would improve soon. ROMANIA The Russia-Ukraine war has had a negative impact on Romanian agriculture, according to Petre Daea, minister of agriculture and rural development in Romania. Farmers here were currently in a delicate situation, “with…

RCL Foods recently announced robust half-year results for the six months to December 2022. During this period, revenue increased 17,6% compared with the prior period to close at R20,2 billion. According to Paul Cruickshank, CEO of the RCL Foods’ Group, the results were driven by higher pricing to counter rising input costs, amongst other measures. The company said in a statement that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation and impairments (EBITDA) declined by 8,9% to R1,177 billion. This decrease was ascribed to exceptionally difficult trading conditions marked by high input costs, rising living costs for consumers and significant load-shedding. “Focusing on the factors we can control in current conditions, we have sought to deliver a stable rand profit and grow market share, while supporting cash-strapped consumers as far as possible,…

The lack of regulations over terminology for alternative protein products is causing confusion about food labels worldwide and has already led to several court cases in South Africa. The word ‘meat’ has come under scrutiny by food safety experts where it has been used for products not made with traditionally grown animalbased meat. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) believes that until a clear definition can be agreed on globally, these products will be difficult to police under food safety legislation. While discussions are ongoing and legislation must be clarified by each country, the FAO has suggested that the term ‘cell-based foods’ be used for food made by cultivating animal cells in a tank, but does not require livestock or poultry to be killed. FAO food…

Themba Rikhotso will become Land Bank CEO effective 1 April 2023. The Land Bank said in a statement that Rikhotso held a BCom and a Master of Business Leadership, among other qualifications. Rikhotso reportedly has 20 years of experience in the financial services sector, and extensive management experience in retail and corporate banking, alongside experience in funding agricultural projects across the continent. Christo van der Rheede, CEO of Agri SA, said the appointment was a step in the right direction for the bank, which has been defaulting on its debt since 2020: “We wish Rikhotso all the best in this new task. It sounds as if he is well qualified and positioned to steer the bank onto a more positive course.” Towards the end of last year, the bank announced…

The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2023 lists 10 major risks that will influence the global economy over the next two years. Amongst these are: the cost of living crisis; natural disasters and extreme weather events; geo-economic confrontation; failure to mitigate climate change; and erosion of social cohesion and societal polarisation. A number of these will have a more direct effect on South Africa and our farmers. Some aspects are discussed in this column. • The cost of living crisis The Russia-Ukraine war disrupted the flow of energy and food from these major exporters, but global supply chains have largely adapted to the situation. The Black Sea Grain Initiative, which has ensured the safe transportation of grain and foodstuffs from Ukrainian ports, has helped to increase supplies. Nonetheless, with…

Cowpeas can be grown as a cover crop or green manure. An inoculant should be applied to cowpea seeds. Inoculants are marketed in liquid and powder forms for seed inoculation or in granular form for soil inoculation. Powder and granular formulations can consist of clay or peat carriers. Rhizobium inoculant is sensitive to some fungicide seed treatments and fertilisers. In the case of seed inoculation, apply the inoculant to the seed just before planting. Large populations of these rhizobia bacteria must be able to survive in the soil for two to three weeks to form nodules on the roots of pulse crop seedlings. In dryland cropping regions, granular inoculant is better, as it's more reliable in dry seedbed conditions.…

12 Weeks to a Sharper You by Dr Sanjay Gupta (Headline Home, R355) Following Gupta's 2021 health guide, Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age, this workbook of just under 200 pages offers a three-month course to finesse your brain's workings. In case you need any persuading, Gupta, a TV doctor familiar to many CNN viewers, provides an overview of the medical background in the opening 60 pages or so, before turning to the workbook proper in the longer second section. The book uses hearty, personal-trainer-style exhortations and earnest advice, and you'll know from Week 1 whether this approach is for you. Despite being an associate professor of neurosurgery with an Emmy Award for his TV show, Gupta has been criticised within his own profession for his gung-ho…

Dear Prof McCrindle, Is the snouted cobra a dangerous snake? We've seen a 2m-long specimen on our dairy farm and are worried that it might bite one of the dogs or our livestock. The staff are very frightened. How can we get rid of it? Kind regards, Anonymous Dear Anonymous, The snouted cobra (Naja annulifera), also called the banded Egyptian cobra, is a dangerous, yellowish-brown, striped snake that becomes black with age. It lives in bush and grasslands, is found in old termite nests, and is attracted to small-scale outdoor poultry operations. It is a nocturnal hunter, so is usually seen at dusk and dawn, but is occasionally spotted basking in the sun during the day, especially after cold or wet weather. Heavy rain tends to make snakes leave their…

REPORT: MEAT PURCHASES IN US ABOVE PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS Americans are buying more fresh meat than they were prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the annual Power of Meat report released in early March by the North American Meat Institute and FMI: The Food Industry Association. – nationalhogfarmer.com GHANA'S AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION GETS MAJOR BOOST Ghana's President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo recently announced that the government had procured US$29,9 million (around R555 million) in machinery and equipment to boost agriculture mechanisation in that country. – ghanaweb.com SUPPORTING AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN MADAGASCAR The UN Office for Project Services is working with the International Fund for Agricultural Development to promote food security and sustainable agriculture in south-eastern Madagascar. – reliefweb.int…

South Africa is the world leader in producing a wide range of ostrich products for both local and international markets. The country domesticated and began farming ostriches in the early 1860s, but it wasn't until the early 1900s that the industry began to boom. Today, South Africa runs the most extensive ostrich operation in the world, producing approximately 70% of all ostrichrelated products, which include meat, leather and feathers. FEWER OSTRICHES NOW However, there are far fewer ostriches being farmed in the country today than the million or so at the beginning of the 1900s. The reduction in ostrich farming operations is attributed to two factors: the acquisition of smaller operations by larger operations, droughts, and disease outbreaks such as avian influenza in the early 2000s, which caused some farmers…

Red meat production has once again come under fire, this time in a study detailing a pathway for South Africa to achieve its goal of achieving net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050. The study, conducted by the National Business Initiative, Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), and the Boston Consulting Group in the US, assessed what it would take for South Africa to reach net zero by 2050 and to ensure a ‘just transition’. It stated that for the country, responding to climate change was fundamentally about ensuring future economic competitiveness and lifting its people out of poverty, inequality, and unemployment, while contributing to the global goal of reducing CO2 emissions. The study offered several strategies for South Africa to reach its climate goals, including faster deployment of renewable energy,…

The Botswanan government was researching different wheat varieties to boost production in that country, according to the state-owned research entity, the National Agricultural Research and Development Institute (NARDI). A recent study published by Tridge, an international business consultancy firm, showed that Botswana's farmers were struggling to meet demand for wheat in the country, a development that raised the potential for the country to work towards boosting production through various interventions. The study revealed that between 2009 and 2017, Botswana imported 100% of all wheat consumed in the country as no wheat was produced locally during that period. In 2018, farmers in the country produced around 1 000t of wheat, which declined to 377t in 2019. The latest statistics, however, indicated that local production in 2020 had bounced back to around…

The time has come for all role players in South Africa's grain production sector to re-evaluate their relevance and to co-operate in good faith. This was according to Derek Mathews, who was unanimously re-elected chairperson of Grain SA (GSA) during the organisation's 2023 congress. Unity was needed, because the future success of the grain industry would depend “on how successful we can function as team players,” he said. “Fortunately, there is an increased drive in the grain industry to work together for future growth. To that effect, GSA [has] succeeded in fostering excellent relationships down the agricultural value chain as well as with political functionaries. “I am optimistic that role players in the grain industry will, through co-operation, find solutions to issues that pose a threat to the industry,” Mathews…

South Africa was dealt another heavy blow when US ratings agency S&P Global unexpectedly reduced its outlook to ‘stable’ from ‘positive’ for the country's debt, saying measures aimed at stabilising state-owned enterprises were slow, compounding the effect of ongoing power outages on the economy. The ratings agency also warned it could cut the outlook even further. “We could lower the ratings if the ongoing implementation of economic and governance reforms does not progress as planned, resulting in further deterioration in economic growth, or higher-than-expected fiscal financing needs. “This could, for example, result from a deepening of the electricity crisis or if critical infrastructure constraints worsen,” the ratings agency said in a statement earlier this month. Its action followed just two weeks after the presentation of the national budget by finance…

Terpenes are organic compounds that play an important role in cannabis, particularly when it comes to flavour and effects. Many plants, including herbs, fruits and spices, owe their distinct flavour and aroma to terpenes. Terpenes are produced in glandular trichomes, tiny hairlike structures on the epidermis of the plant that also produce cannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis, and cannabidiol (CBD). In total, more than 100 terpenes have been identified in cannabis, each having its own distinct flavour and aroma profile. ENDLESS COMBINATIONS Terpenes can be influenced by environmental factors such as temperature, humidity and light. This means that different terpene profiles can be found in the same cannabis strain depending on where and how it was grown. Terpenes can influence the way that cannabinoids…

Tunisia, the smallest country in North Africa, is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east, and has a population of around 10 million people. The northern, mountainous parts of the country, where the climate is temperate, experience cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers. The central region is hot, dry and flat, and the southern part is covered by the Sahara Desert. Rain is largely confined to northern Tunisia, which receives around 1 520mm annually. In spite of Tunisia's varied climate, agriculture plays an important role in the country's economy, with the sector contributing around 12,6% to national gross domestic product. Due to the relatively low rainfall received in central and southern Tunisia, around 66% of total cultivated land receives less than 400mm of rain every year.…