Benefits of winter cover crops in a mixed farming system
April 2018
GERRIE TRYTSMAN, ARC-Animal Production
With a total of only 14% land suitable for arable cropping, South Africa is not well endowed with resources for dryland (rainfed) farming. Soil degradation often occurs due to monoculture...
Quality hybrids yield high oil content
Oilseed crops are the second-largest source of food after cereals, with a large expansion worldwide due to high demand for vegetable edible oil. Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is one of the four most important...
Machinery and implements for conventional farming systems
September 2018
JOHAN VAN BILJON and DR TINGMIN YU, ARC-Agricultural Engineering
The optimal use of the correct equipment and implements is necessary to optimise farming production and to maximise operational profit. All mechanisation actions need to...
Kweekgras: ’n Moeilik beheerbare kalant
Tydens ’n meningspeiling wat onlangs onder 41 kommersiële produsente gedoen is, is kweekgras (Cynodon dactylon) aangewys as een van die topdrie-onkruide waarmee produsente die meeste sukkel. Internasionaal is kweek gemeld as ’n probleemonkruid in...
Benchmarking – a powerful tool
The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) is not new to benchmarking and the effective use thereof to measure farm-level competitiveness. BFAP is part of the international agri benchmark network, where various crop-producing...
Growing groundnuts aflatoxin-free
The groundnut or peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an important food and fodder crop in the farming systems of developing countries. The seed is high in oil (close to 50% for many varieties) and...
Bread price not affected by wheat import tariff
Bread is an important staple food in South Africa and plays an integral role to ensure national food security. Consumers for the most part do not buy food directly from producers and the price...
Local and imported wheat quality reviewed
Wheat samples of the 2019/2020 season were the first crop survey to be graded according to the latest bread wheat grading regulations published in the Government Gazette No. 42862, dated 29 November 2019.
These regulations...
Gerbils in agriculture: Impact and ecologically based control
Grain crops worldwide are impacted by various pests that affect yield, profitability and in some cases food security. An important, but often overlooked pest of grain crops, is rodents.
In a recent meta-analysis it was...
Beskikbaarheid en prys van grondboonsaad vir nuwe seisoen
Volgens die jongste skatting van die Nasionale Oesskattingskomitee is slegs 20 050 ha grondbone in die 2018/2019-produksieseisoen aangeplant en word ’n oes van 20 580 ton verwag. Produsente was van voorneme om ten minste...
