Category: CROPS

Bucket elevators are essential components in most grain handling facilities. They are also recognized as both a circulation point for combustible dust and a potential ignition source. A dust explosion starting in a bucket elevator can potentially travel to larger downstream volumes such as silos and upstream material handling systems, leading to devastating secondary explosions elsewhere in…

The 40ha of cauliflower and broccoli crops stretches out over the picturesque hillside in Curry’s Post, KwaZulu-Natal. You would be forgiven for thinking the vista has been staged, for it’s not only the setting that’s picture perfect, but the crops themselves. Uniform to the point of perfection, the plants all stand at an equal height,…

In the past, lucerne was considered a low-value pasture or rotation crop, and was primarily used as a supplement. However, in recent decades, it has become valuable and profitable, competing successfully with many higher-value speciality crops. Today, many producers approach lucerne production as a serious business enterprise, with careful consideration of costs, value and markets.…

A quick Internet search of the term ‘vertical farming’ produces images of seemingly futuristic buildings housing an abundance of luxuriant plant life. While these complex architectural designs and cutting-edge technology might seem far-fetched, vertical farming is, in fact, a system that can be realised sooner rather than later. The keys to achieving this dream in…

Most processes in agriculture use chemical intervention either to boost plant or animal production, or to prevent or treat diseases. Whilst such chemicals may be necessary to achieve desirable farming results and thereby help ensure food security, they can contribute to contamination of the environment. Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) have recently been highlighted as…

However, Reuters reported that this criticism was “a bit thorny” as the Phase One trade deal between the two countries was still in place. In 2020, the US and China reached an historic and enforceable agreement on a Phase One trade deal that required structural reforms and other changes to China’s economic and trade regime in the…

Jacto’s self-propelled sprayers allow farmers to reduce fuel and agrochemical application costs, as well as minimise crop damage. It is estimated that by 2050 there will be around 9,7 billion people on the planet. Feeding these people will be a huge challenge and will require an increase in agricultural productivity. Precision agriculture is an important…

Zdeněk Široký has been involved in farming since 1992. He manages an area of 240 hectares of arable land and he alternates crops in his seeding plan such as winter wheat, malting barley, winter rapeseed or triticale. Mr. Široký uses a combined soil cultivation technology in his fields; a part of the land is tilled…

Johannes Griesel has been producing carrots on the farm Wilson’s Fort in the Bainsvlei area of Bloemfontein for the past 25 years. He started growing the vegetable under his brand name, Eat JJ’s, as an alternative to the potatoes his father had been planting. “The soil was depleted, so I had to look for an…