Experts

seedlings; pesticides

Crop production: How to use pesticides safely

  14th August 2018

If you’re a farmer – new or already established – producing crops, you need to know how to handle and store pesticides and chemicals safely and how to protect your workers, and yourself, while doing so. It is the duty of the employer, in this case the farmer, to provide…

harvest; packaging

Marketing tips: Understand the basic functions of fresh prod...

  1st August 2018

Packaging is expensive, but it’s important if you are to achieve top prices for your fresh produce. The cost of packaging can be frightening, so some farmers turn to cheaper alternatives, such as second-hand containers. Like the Eastern Cape farmer who does the rounds of all the fruit and veg…

Zambian farmers; marketing; produce

Marketing tips: Transporting fresh produce

  31st July 2018

If planned badly, transport for fresh produce is expensive, but used properly it can become cost-effective. There are 3 factors a producer needs to adhere to when planning transport for fresh produce. Get them right and you’ll find transport isn’t the monster some people make it out to be. SELLING…

farming; hydroponic; pests

Hydroponic farming: Tunnels limit pests – but watch ou...

  24th July 2018

Here’s your guide to the most important pests that attack plants in hydroponic systems. Growing conditions in a hydroponic system differ from those in open fields, but most pests attack plants in both systems with equal vigour because the plants’ chemical make-up stays the same, irrespective of the growing conditions….

How to make your own whip

  23rd July 2018

Tossie Ferreira, a highly skilled craftsman from Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape, shared the secrets of making a 6-strand whip with us. Place a tanned kudu hide on your workbench, and remove all the weak sections, such as the thigh and leg. Carefully cut the strands, one by one,…

hydroponic

Hydroponic farming: Managing disease in hydroponic systems

  23rd July 2018

Certain diseases can wreak havoc in hydroponic systems – guard against them by following this advice. Plants grown in hydroponic systems are susceptible to many of the diseases affecting field-grown vegetable crops. But because hydroponic systems are grown under shelter (plastic tunnels/shade net), fungal and bacterial diseases of the above-ground parts…

bacterial

Vegetable production: Potato bacterial diseases

  18th July 2018

We look at the bacterial pathogens that can cause disease in potato plants and tubers. Yield losses and reduced cosmetic value are 2 of the detrimental effects bacterial diseases can have in the potato industry. Of these, Ralstonia solanacearum (bacterial wilt), Pectobacterium spp, Dickeya spp (previously known as Erwinia spp)…

pests

Vegetable production: Controlling potato pests

  17th July 2018

Learning how to identify insect potato pests helps us to decide on a course of treatment. Taking a close look at the most important of the more than 60 insect pests that attack potatoes will help potato farmers to protect their crops and income. POTATO TUBER MOTH The moths are…