Farmer's Weekly 24 February 2023

Late last year, US fast-food restaurant chain Chipotle announced that its tortilla-making robot 'Chippy' would start making potato chips and tortillas in one of its branches in California. Miso Robotics, which manufactured Chippy, describes the robot as an autonomous kitchen assistant. When Chipotle made this announcement in the media, it described the robot as a breakthrough for the fast-food industry, as it would reduce labour costs for the chain and improve food quality Of course, by reducing 'labour costs', the meant that Chippy would replace a human worker in the kitchen, thus at least one more person would be out of work in the US. In February this year, Canadian newspaper Farmers Forum reported on a robot that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to make farming-related decisions. According to the article: "A robot…

The views expressed in our weekly opinion piece do not necessarily reflect those of Farmer's Weekly. This is an edited version of an article first published by the ENACT project. To read the original article, visit bit.ly/3DOYgDm. Illegal harvesting to supply the international horticultural market threatens some of South Africa's endemic succulent species. The plants, sought for their beauty, rarity and often whimsical shapes, face near-extinction in the wild. South Africa is home to three of the world's 36 biodiversity hotspots. One is the Succulent Karoo, covering 116 000km2 in the Western and Northern Cape and across the border into Namibia. The Succulent Karoo is the world's most biodiverse arid region, with many of its species not occurring anywhere else on earth. It houses the planet's largest concentration of succulents, all of which…

20 to 21 March, Buttermead Farm, Rhodes, Eastern Cape The Braunvieh South African Judge Course aims to train new and up-and-coming judges in Braunvieh inspection. Braunvieh is a popular breed in South Africa. It has its origins in Europe, and is a well-known breed around the world. CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS AND EXPOS 20 TO 24 MARCH Africa Regional Apimondia (bee) Symposium, Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre, Durban. Visit apimondiaafrica2023.org.za. 20 TO 31 MARCH Smart Farming: Transforming Agriculture for Sustainable Food Security in Africa, Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Pretoria Menlyn. Phone Edna Lupiya on 011 862 4001. 24 TO 26 MARCH Cannabis Expo, GrandWest, Cape Town. Visit thecannabisexpo.co.za. 3 TO 5 MAY Africa International Sustainable Agriculture production, Biotechnology and Engineering Conference, Cape Town Convention Centre. Email at charity@federatedmi.co.za. COURSES AND TRAINING 27 FEBRUARY TO 3 MARCH Cattle Beef Farming Management and Production, George. Email Rothman…

The number of children consuming vegetables on a daily basis at 342 schools in at-risk communities across Gauteng, the Eastern and Western Cape increased by 494% between 2019 and 2022, thanks to INMED's Health in Action (HIA) programme, and the Mondelēz International Foundation. The first phase of the two-phase programme (rolled out between 2015 and 2019 and 2019 and 2022, respectively) focused on promoting healthy lifestyles for children and reducing the rates of childhood obesity. It combined participatory education in nutrition with access to fresh food via school gardens, as well as regular breaktime fitness activities led by INMED-trained unemployed youth. The second phase of the programme focused on spreading its reach and impact to develop a sustainable healthylifestyle culture in schools and their surrounding communities. Non-governmental organisation INMED South Africa, the implementing…

MOST POPULAR ON FARMERSWEEKLY.CO.ZA INCREASING THE PRODUCTION OF PULSES WILL BENEFIT PEOPLE AND PLANET Hunger, poverty, soil degradation and climate change: few crops can boast the ability to solve all of these challenges. Pulses are the edible seeds of leguminous plants cultivated for food and feed, and include dry beans and soya beans, which greatly benefit food security, nutrition, climate action, and biodiversity due to their low water footprint and high nutritional value. Read the full article at bit.ly/3RMKMxU, or scan here: Posted: 9 February 2023. Follow us at @FarmersWeeklySA FROM FACEBOOK @FarmersWeeklySA When we posted a link to an article titled, ‘Cactus pear: one crop, three profitable markets’, it left some of our followers reminiscing about their earlier years. Posted: 1 February 2023. READERS' COMMENTS Argentina Goncalves Mathewson: "In Mozambique, we grew up using this cactus for cough syrup." Carol…

This article explained why every farmer should have a snakebite kit on hand, and how to use it correctly. It began by explaining how venom affects different people, as well as the two main groups of venom. Every South African farmer should have a polyvalent antivenom snakebite kit available, says a leading authority on snakebites, Dr Neil Goodwin, head of the intensive care unit at Addington Hospital in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. However, he stresses, it should be used with great care, and even then only when the victim shows symptoms of having received a venom injection. In all snakebite cases, expert medical attention must be sought as soon as possible. “There are many factors that dictate the approach to treating snakebite victims,” he says. About 160 species and subspecies are found in Southern Africa,…