Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana has welcomed an initiative by a group of Western Cape women, who have set up a network of entrepreneurs to help women and youth to get into farming.
In an interview with SAnews, the Minister said the initiative makes it easier for government to …
Charcoal rot is caused by a fungus that invades various agricultural crops and gives them a charred appearance. The disease is becoming more widespread in South Africa – which is worrying, since it can dramatically affect crop yields which drives up prices and hits farmers’ incomes.
Charcoal rot attacks crops that …
Women have become visible participants in all four pillars of food security. They have became producers of food; ensuring that their households have enough resources to obtain food in sufficient quantity, quality and diversity for a nutritious diet; they decide what food to purchase and how to prepare it as …
This summer, more than a million tonnes of chardonnay grapes are plumping on manicured vineyards around the world. The grapes make one of the most popular white wines, but their juicy fruit and luscious leaves are also targets for diseases such as downy mildew, a stubborn fungus-like parasite. If left …
A partnership between government and the private sector will empower 5 000 women-owned maize farming cooperatives in the next five years. Read …
Below average rainfall experienced for the last four years, with 2015 being one of the driest years in South African history, had a devastating effect on the North West and the Free State provinces in particular. These provinces are heavily dependent on the agricultural industry and are the major producers …
B4FA Fellow Samuel Hinneh reports: A new project that aims to provide farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa with stress-tolerant maize varieties has been launched to help the region boost food security. The Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project will apply conventional breeding techniques to develop maize varieties and hybrids capable …
South Africa will relax some of its tough rules on genetically modified crops so it can ramp up maize imports from the United States and Mexico to avert a potential food crisis amid a severe drought, officials said. Almost 90% of maize in South Africa is genetically modified and the …
Our biggest water resource, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, is struggling to keep up with the demand from South Africa. Reports coming out of Lesotho suggest that more and more people are moving out of the countryside and into the towns, with the result that that country’s government is having …
The Agricultural Research Council (ARC), one of South Africa’s key weapons in the fight against the current drought, has seen its net surplus decline by 300% during 2014/2015. While still in the black the ARC has experienced a 300% decrease in its surplus from R137m to R34m for the …
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