Flying autonomous robot can spot and pick ripe fruit
There is a global shortage of seasonal fruit pickers, as a result of the enforced COVID-19 travel restrictions. As it is getting harder to find fruit pickers to harvest the world’s…
SA set to have its largest summer grain and oilseed harvest on record in 2020/21 production season
2021 promises to be another good year for South Africa’s agricultural sector, at least from a production front. The data released this afternoon by the Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) show…
AFRICAN SWINE FEVER DISEASE OUTBREAK IN PIGS IN MFULENI
Western Cape Minister of Agriculture, Dr Ivan Meyer, announced today that African Swine Fever (ASF) was identified on two smallholder farms in Mfuleni, Eerste River in the Western Cape. This…
TLU SA underwhelmed by predictable budget
The National Budget 2021 did nothing to excite agriculture. Minister of Finance, Mr Tito Mboweni, delivered the budget in parliament today. As expected, there was a strong focus on economic…
80 000 says “STOP the Expropriation Bill” – Free State Agriculture
Free State Agriculture (FSA) today handed to Parliament its official submission on the Expropriation Bill. The document is supported by more than 80 000 individuals across the country who rejects…
Saffron, could be SA’s hot new export crop
Saffron is used as a food seasoning, in natural cosmetics, natural medicine and as a dye in the textile industry. After seven years of research, including four years to perfect…
Free State Agriculture – State is going to give expropriated land to MK veterans
“This is nothing more than a repetition of Zimbabwean land policy.” This was the reaction of Free State Agriculture (FSA) after the former Minister of Agriculture, Tina Joemat Petersson, announced…
South Africa’s agricultural exports registered the second largest level on record in 2020
We have been writing for a while about South Africa’s agricultural performance in 2020, but with full-year trade data now available, we felt compelled to revisit the subject. South Africa’s…
Coronavirus and food safety: what the studies say
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, not much was known about SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus) and its survival in food, on various materials and on surfaces. Since then, several food safety agencies have assessed the risk…
Syngenta launches 2021 Leadership Academy for Agriculture Programme
With the right leadership, agriculture can heal South Africa – Twenty-eight agriculturists, from grain producers and agri-researchers to a Brahman stud manager and even a beekeeper, started their journey into…