Africa ripe for agrochemicals growth

Africa’s underdeveloped agrochemicals market has presented AECI’s agrochemical solution business, Nulandis, with a double-digit growth opportunity to cement its place in the agriculture sector, particularly within the smallholder farmer industry.

This emerged at AECI’s investor day, held in Woodmead, on Tuesday, where executive Edwin Ludick outlined the attractiveness of Nulandis’ expansion in the market.

The group, which supplied propriety and third-party products to farmers, believed the prospects for expansion in Africa were “very good” on the back of the increasing need for food security within a ballooning population and greater demand from a rising middle class for food variety.

The current agrochemicals market in Africa was valued at between R15-billion and R20-billion, with South Africa accounting for 33%.  READ MORE

Source: www.engineeringnews.co.za/

Mining and biofuels ‘drive the need for more efficient farms’

Mining and biofuels are competing with agriculture for land in SA, putting pressure on farmers to become more efficient, particularly through the use of technology.

As a result, SA’s commercial farmers are consolidating into fewer and larger operations to achieve economies of scale and remain profitable, says Nico Groenewald, head of agribusiness at Standard Bank.

Of the 35,000 commercial farmers in SA about 3,000 are responsible for 80% of total agricultural production.

At the same time, arable land is a scarce resource. Only 12% of the land in SA is arable, and only 3% of that is truly fertile. Just 1.5% of the land is under irrigation, Mr Groenewald says, and this land produces more than 30% of SA’s agricultural output. He was speaking at a media briefing in Johannesburg on Wednesday.   READ MORE

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Agriculture research suffers as little funding cuts resources

A new report paints a picture of a severely underfunded Agricultural Research Council trying to do the best with the resources available to it.

The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) – which received a grant of R866-million in 2013/14, 16% more than the previous year – was established in 1990 to be the country’s primary agricultural scientific research institution, but has suffered from years of neglect and underfunding.

Its annual report, published on Wednesday, paints a picture of an organisation suffering from chronic underfunding and trying to do the best with the resources available.

“The reasonable number [with] which the ARC could be expected to fulfil its mandate [would be] a parliamentary grant of R1.5-billion. That’s my conservative estimate,” the ARC’s Shadrack Moepuli told the Mail & Guardian on Wednesday. READ MORE

Source: www.mg.co.za

Rights of foreign farm workers are hurt by weak policy co-ordination

A NEW study by Wits University’s African Centre for Migration and Society says the mismatch in bilateral agreements between SA and its neighbours undermines the rights of migrant workers.

The report, released on Friday, examined the importance of foreign labour in SA’s commercial agricultural sector, with a focus on policy, labour conditions and mobilisation. It says business interests, along with SA’s own interests, are taking precedence over the rights of foreign labourers in the agricultural sector.

The researchers urged the Department of Home Affairs and Department of Labour to work more closely in aligning various international agreement with domestic labour laws. READ MORE

Source: www.bdlive.co.za