Plant

Thứ 2, 03/03/2025

Drought and disease development in maize

Adverse environmental conditions and disease are placing increasing pressure on maize crops in South Africa, says Dr Belinda Janse van Rensburg, researcher

Plant

Better soil with summer cover crops

Swellendam farmer Hoppies Uys has started a new farming trend in the Southern Cape by planting a summer cover crop directly after harvesting a silage crop

Seedlings: Balancing fertility & hardening

To ensure successful fertilisation, you need to do more than simply carry out a soil analysis to determine the crop’s basic requirements.

Sharon fruit in SA – growing local and export sales

Exotic Sharon fruit was introduced to South Africa in the late 1990s, but it took years to establish in which regions the trees would produce optimally

How helping soil life can boost farm profits

The key workforce in the soil consists of some of the smallest plants and animals on earth. How helping soil life can boost farm profits

Selecting a suitable soil biofumigant

The phasing out of methyl bromide and pressure on various synthetic nematicides and other compounds have sparked global interest in the use of certain brassica

Sugarcane: lessons from Australia

Situated along 2 100km of the continent’s east coast, Australia’s 385 000ha sugar industry was producing a whopping 32 million tons of irrigated sugarcane

Introducing guar – a resilient, versatile crop

Long grown in India and Pakistan, and more recently in the US, Australia and other parts of Africa, guar is now being introduced to South African crop farmers

It’s Half Potato, Half Tomato: Are You Ready for the TomTato?

Let's do a quick history of Thompson & Morgan, the British seed company. It was founded by William Thompson in 1855, in a garden shop behind a bakery

Weed control and ridging of potatoes

Management of the potato crop after planting depends on various factors. One is weed control. The procedure you use will depend on what sort of weeds you can

Why potato irrigation is so important

As potatoes can have a confined and intense root system, together with a fairly large leaf area, it stands to reason irrigation requirements will differ from

Potato planting procedures

Potatoes are a productive crop and as such are heavy feeders. The potato also has a rather confined root system, so make sure the fertiliser is placed