Do you want to win R100 000 in cash with your food system innovation? Yes? Then you have to listen to this week’s Farmer’s Inside Track podcast for the low-down on the Inqola FEED Innovation Prize.
Presented by Food Equity, Equality and Democracy (FEED), the prize highlights internet-based ideas and solutions that have the potential to strengthen Mzansi’s fragile food system.
“The prize is a call out to innovators, inventors, and technology professionals to stake their claim on this significant, emerging space,” says FEED co-director Kevin Naidoo in the podcast, now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts.
Naidoo’s fellow co-director, Nicola Coundourakis, says with the Inqola FEED Innovation Prize they are hoping to see the kind of solutions that give consideration to innovation and to systems thinking.
“We’ve deliberately left the competition broad because we want to see what people come up with. But we are especially looking for solutions in the domain of waste management or the circular economy, agro-ecology, local economies, capacity building, and transparency and information sharing.”
ALSO READ: How to enter for the Inqola FEED Innovation Prize
Animal nutrition with Voermol Feeds
Also featured in this week’s podcast is Dr Francois van de Vyver, national technical manager at Voermol Feeds. In a new animal nutrition feature, he discusses overwintering in the dry season of the summer rainfall areas.
Van de Vyver describes overwintering as “being characterised by sweet, sour or mixed veld”.
“They [the grass species in the dry summer rainfall areas] are typically dormant in the winter months, which means that their nutritive value is exceptionally low.
“The reason for this is that most of the nutrients [in feed] are translocated to the root system, which serves as a store for the next growing season.”
Livestock grazing on these grass species will there not be getting all the nutrients they require from feeding.
Van de Vyver says products like Voermol Protein Block are especially designed to combat this feed nutrient deficiency.
“By supplementing Nitrogen, we are supporting microbial growth in the rumen of the cow, and thereby creating an environment in which the poorly digestible grass is made more digestible.”
ALSO READ: How to keep your cattle healthy (and happy!) this winter
Other podcast highlights
- #SoilSistas: This week’s soil sister, powered by Corteva Agriscience and Food For Mzansi, is Gauteng farmer Nobuntu Makhoa. She founded agricultural enterprise Ba ha Makhoa and has recently been selected for the prestigious blended development programme at the GIBS Business School.
- Fruit farming for beginner farmers: Journalist Nicole Ludolph chats to Sandra van Eeden, a horticulture and post-harvest production lecturer at Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute. She helps farmers get started with fruit farming.
- Farmer’s tip of the week: Western Cape producer Bernie van den Heever worked for 16 years to fully develop his mango farm. He has great soil management tips.
- Book of the week: This week, farmers are reading The intuitive farmer by Peter Nuthall. Our Sinelizwi Citizen Journalist of theYear, Terri-Ann Brouwers, reviews the book.
- Mzansi Flavour: Thuto Mahlangu, a chef school graduate and foodpreneur shares her secret for the perfect Mzansi home-cooked meal. She teaches us how to make a mouth-watering chicken soup.
How to listen to Farmer’s Inside Track
Spotify: Click here to listen on Spotify (all mobile and other devices).
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Google Podcasts: Click here to listen on Google Podcasts.
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