Maluta Netshaulu, an agricultural economist at Nedbank, returns for this episode of Farmer’s Inside Track in which he discusses how embracing technology and creativity can spark a worldwide agricultural revolution.
According to Netshaulu, the greatest challenge in the agricultural sector is energy. Farmers are compelled to supplement this or adopt new technologies, such as renewable energy.
He says that load shedding is one of the obstacles that have a detrimental effect on this industry, and they require renewable energy to survive.
“Managing your soil health and making sure the organisms in there can trap the carbon and all that. That helps to reduce the cost and by extending it, increases our farming operation margins.”
He also emphasises the value of biodiversity, saying that farmers are increasingly turning away from the use of intensive pesticide spraying in favour of more environmentally friendly methods like the use of biological solutions.
“When you use biological solutions, during harvest, if it’s vegetables like peppers, spinach or whatever, you can pick it the next day as opposed to the other [solutions], when you need to wait seven days to up to two weeks.”
Making sustainable decisions
Netshaulu says that farmers are continually looking for more efficient water-saving methods. They select several types of irrigation systems, from micro irrigation to drip irrigation.
He suggests that farmers in Mzansi learn when and how to irrigate so that they can contribute to the nation’s water sufficiency.
“The sector uses about 70% of freshwater in the country. It takes quite a lot from the sector. So, it’s heavily dependent on a scarce resources. The sector must be always looking for ways to produce more with less.”
These are some of the topics he discusses:
- Adequate market for Artech enterprises.
- Nedbank backed the creation of the Avo platform and provided funding.
- Feeding the World: Commodity food prices.
Want to know more? Listen to the full episode of Farmer’s Inside Track.
Option 1: Click here to listen on Spotify (all mobile and other devices).
Option 2: Click here to listen on any Apple device.
Option 3: Click here to listen on Google Podcast.
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