Agriculture News

New maize varieties to boost South African production

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 15th June 2001 In a development that is set to boost the country maize production, South African and international scientists have developed two new maize varieties which can yield up to 50% more than traditional varieties. →

Exports to EU surge by 35%

15th June 2001 Recent favourable trade conditions, and the provisional implementation of the South Africa European Union (EU) free-trade agreement (FTA) resulted in a 35% increase in South Africa's exports to the EU in the year 2000. →

Fertiliser exports earn SA R1,95-billion

14th June 2001 South Africa earned R1,95-billion in foreign exchange through the exportation of phosphoric acid and NPK compounds in 2000. →

SA citrus leaves for Japan, Korea

12th June 2001 The first shipment of South African containerised steri-citrus this season has been delivered to Korea and Japan, reports P&O Nedlloyd reefer product manager, Tissa Fuchsloch. →

Wool, mohair revolution by 2008

8th June 2001 The Wool and Mohair Cluster Initiative (WMCI), launched by the Department of Trade and Industry in 1999 to increase the local beneficiation of these products, is set to boost the combined yearly turnover of the wool and mohair industries to R17-billion by 2008, up from around R1-billion at present. →

Tender for patrol boats in July

6th June 2001 Tenders for the four patrol boats to be bought by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (Deat) should be issued next month, with the fishery-protection vessels expected to be in the water in three years, revealed Deat Minister Valli Moosa at a media briefing. →

SA-Brazil marketing plan

By: Keith Campbell 1st June 2001 BRAZIL is proposing that sugarcane producing countries should jointly develop a global market in ethanol, for use as an additive in petrol, and has already suggested the idea to South Africa, Engineering News can report. →

Bid to conserve medicinal plants

By: System Author 8th December 2000 The reopening of a plant propagation facility in White River, Mpumulanga, marks a bid by the Medicinal Flora Co-operative to conserve South Africa’s medicinal plants and facilitate greater employment for traditional healers and rural communities. →

Small-scale farming, Western Cape

By: System Author 1st December 2000 An irrigation development was handed over to the Brandwacht community. →

Agricultural, Western Cape

By: System Author 24th November 2000 A small-farmer project in the Olifantsriver Valley, well-known as an example of successful land reform, has received grant funding from the Western Cape Government. →

Tool for quick weeding

By: System Author 17th November 2000 It seems that South Africans will be spared the long, back-breaking hours crouched under the boiling-hot sun weeding their gardens this summer. →

Agriculture, Western Cape

By: System Author 17th November 2000 The new irrigation system will contribute to creating jobs for at least 30 people in Friemersheim and surroundings. →

Competition attrition

By: System Author 17th November 2000 South African industrial companies are being denied vitally-important global potential by narrow competition policy, says business leader Leslie Boyd, executive vice-chairperson of Anglo American plc. →

Coldrooms and agricultural processing, Western Cape

By: System Author 17th November 2000 The coldroom storage project →

SA wood-chip exports to Japan

By: System Author 17th November 2000 After only its first year of operation, wood-chip producer and exporter Shincel, of Richards Bay, Kwazulu-Natal, is exporting some 35 000 t of wood-chips monthly to the fastidious Japanese market. →

Upgrade to distribution centre completed

By: System Author 10th November 2000 Warehousing & storage →

Flood-relief scheme for agro-industry, tourism sector

By: System Author 3rd November 2000 The response of the tourism and agro-industries communities to the Industrial Development Corporation’s R300-million flood relief scheme has been disappointing and, as a result, the cut-off date may be extended beyond December. →

Dutch-SA alliance in banana biotech

By: System Author 27th October 2000 A partnership between Dutch plant company Pothos and local black-empowerment Northern Province company African Biotechnologies is paving the way for increased involvement in the global market, while creating possibilities of further employment for rural women in South Africa. →

Energy-efficient focus needed

By: System Author 27th October 2000 Initial case-studies into increasing energy efficiency at three prominent South African companies have revealed that local corporations could be saving millions of rands a year by implementing simple energy-saving strategies. →

How small farmers can add value

By: System Author 20th October 2000 It is a well-known fact that primary products fetch lower – sometimes much lower – prices than their beneficiated derivatives. →

Cast-aluminium furniture exports

By: System Author 20th October 2000 Local furniture company, Outdoor Lifestyle, has achieved international success in the US, the UK, the Middle East and Australia, the exporting cast- →

Agro-processing, Northern Cape

By: System Author 13th October 2000 There are opportunities for the expansion of agriculture including the agro-processing of dates, fruit, citrus products, vegetables and viticulture →

Land Bank to colour its ‘pale’ books

By: System Author 13th October 2000 Totsie Memela, the acting MD of the Land Bank, is proving that it is good management practices that pack the punch, not size or gender. →

Now it’s ‘use it or lose it’ for SA agriculture

By: System Author 29th September 2000 The Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs is planning to impose a ‘use it or lose it’ condition – similar to that of the proposed Minerals Development Bill – to its land resettlement programme to ensure that land allocated for agricultural purposes is used... →

Hemp being cleared as a commercial crop

By: System Author 25th August 2000 Commercial hemp production could start in the Eastern Cape as early as September following the successful completion of a pilot plant to cultivate the plant in the province. →

Silk producer finds US and UK markets

By: System Author 25th August 2000 Through informal marketing, small-scale silk producer Tsinini Silk Farm and Weavery in the Mhala region and Graskop, in Mpumalanga, respectively, has found a welcome export market for most of its production in the US and the UK. →

International opportunity for South African farmers

By: System Author 18th August 2000 Agricultural engineering irrigation & plant propagation →

Microwave moisture system developed

By: System Author 18th August 2000 Agricultural engineering irrigation & plant propagation →

Balance needed for farmers to grow

By: System Author 18th August 2000 Agricultural engineering irrigation & plant propagation →

Africa must embrace new technologies

By: System Author 18th August 2000 Agricultural engineering irrigation & plant propagation →

New ostrich tannery in Cape

By: System Author 18th August 2000 In a move that will enable farmers in the southern Cape to enjoy a higher return on their ostrich-farming operations, along with →

Agriculture’s contribution lauded

By: System Author 18th August 2000 As South Africa increases its efforts to integrate into the global market, the agricultural industry continues to play a vital part in the economy. →

Research to boost SA floriculture

By: System Author 11th August 2000 It has emerged that part of the reason for South Africa falling behind in protea exports is the lack of constant and sufficient production volumes. →

Time taken from SA farms to UK shops slashed

By: System Author 14th July 2000 A R15-million perishable cargo warehouse facility, which opened last month at Johannesburg International Airport, is expected to help boost South Africa’s exports of fresh produce and create new jobs. →

EU, poor countries to provide critical mass for WTO round

By: System Author 14th July 2000 It is fitting that France, originator of the word ‘renaissance’, should help Africa with its own variation of the concept. And that is precisely what the country plans to do during its tenure in the presidency of the European Union. →

Get your sums right and we have a free-trade deal

By: System Author 6th July 2000 It appears as though the Southern African Development Community free-trade agreement will not be torn to shreds by clothing and textiles, nor left soured by sugar industry concerns. →