South Africa
I have always had a passion for languages and writing. I hold a degree in Bachelor of Arts Languages from the University of Pretoria. I currently work as the assistant editor for print at Plaas Media. Here I started as an editorial assistant for our website that specialises in agricultural news and in-depth articles that are of a semi-scientific and technical nature. I quickly learned the ins and outs of the agricultural industry as well as the world of magazines, online news and social media. Although I currently work more on print, I still have several duties that keeps me in touch with the online department.
Farmer education and community action are critical elements in the strategy to sustainably manage fall armyworm (FAW) populations. This is especially true for smallholder farmers in Africa. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has taken the lead in the provision of education to manage FAW.
The production and processing of food for great numbers of people have features and aspects that could potentially threaten food safety and security. Given the recent food scares in South Africa and abroad, it is important that processors and the public are aware of these factors. Climate change is another cause for concern as extreme weather events threaten on-farm production, and food safety may well be affected by the spread of pathogens due to changing weather patterns.
Many old-fashioned food preservation techniques have become popular in the past few years. There are good reasons for this; preserving food reduces food waste and means that consumers can get more value for money from their food budget. Have a look at the various ways you can preserve fresh produce.
In this article looks at niche markets in the agricultural industry. We look at a few industries - from fruit and fungi to aquaculture - that has shown potential in South Africa and provide an overview of some of the most popular niche markets found today.
Understanding AMR requires an understanding of antimicrobials and their uses. Antimicrobials are substances used to kill micro-organisms, such as bacteria. Konrad Domig of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria, who spoke at the WNF, said antimicrobials include antibiotics, disinfectants and heavy metals.
Large tracts of land rich in natural resources have been used for mining, in which case it directly competes with the agricultural industry for available land. In certain cases, this is done with dire consequences to the environment and a complete disregard for proper licensing.
The world is abuzz with talk about bees. It is virtually impossible to scroll through a social media feed without seeing an article on the global decline of bees and what the threatened extinction of this important pollinator could mean to food production and the planet's people.
There are many types of vegetable oils suitable for human consumption. These oils are usually called edible oils and can be divided into two categories: conventional and unconventional or speciality oils. Conventional oils are those that are suitable for daily use in cooking and include soya, sunflower and canola oil.
The mohair industry provides 30 000 jobs and supports the local economy through export. FarmBiz spoke to industry role-players to find out more about how mohair is processed, and traced the process from shearing shed to sweaters.
The new gene editing technology known as CRISPR (pronounced ‘crisper’ and short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) has been making headlines in the agricultural sector for some time now.