South Africa

South Africa is looking forward to growing avocado exports to China during the coming season. This followed after the Chinese market opened up to South African avocado exports.

The yields for all summer crops have been revised upward in the recently released second production forecast of the Crop Estimates Committee (CEC).

The Competition Commission’s Fresh Produce Market Inquiry (FPMI) report, which was released in January, offered some valuable insights, but some recommendations were deemed unrealistic and impractical by industry experts.

Famers have been warned to prepare for a second strike of African armyworm (Spodoptera exempta) during this or next week (week of 31 March).

South Africa should forget the US and instead focus its attention on growing export markets in Africa and the East. This was the sentiment expressed by speakers at the AgBusiness day of the Africa Agri Tech conference that took place from 18 to 20 March in Pretoria.

South Africa’s status as a net exporter of food and a leading player in high-value horticultural export markets contradicts the fact that it has always been a water-scarce country, subject to periodic droughts and erratic rainfall patterns, according to Arno Abeln, managing director at Agrimark Operations.

The South African Veterinary Council (SAVC) has called for more veterinary training facilities to be built, and for fewer bureaucratic rules to be imposed on the industry.

South Africa is ripe for disinformation campaigns about agriculture that could cripple food production and innovation.

New cases of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) have been detected in the Newcastle area of KwaZulu-Natal. The outbreak has now spread beyond the boundaries of the original Disease Management Area (DMA), prompting immediate action from authorities.

South Africa is moving closer to implementing a full traceability system for the red meat sector. It is hoped that this will assist meat exports and boost dwindling margins in the industry.

Cornelis Bester from Heidelberg took the laurels in this year’s Goliat van Gat Pumpkin Festival, hosted by the Cullinan Farmers’ Union, with a whopper of a 445kg pumpkin. Bester named the gigantic pumpkin Grietjie after his mother, Magriet Bester.

South African agricultural businesses are relatively upbeat, judged by the recently released Agbiz/IDC Confidence Index (ACI).