• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Lifestyle
Booysen’s Tunnel Farming Managing Director, Byron Booysen (29) farms with farms with cocktail and beef tomatoes in Kraaifontein, Cape Town.

PODCAST: Tomato farmer shares the benefits of hydroponics farming

7th Jan 2020
Dr Harry Malila, Head of Department and Accounting Officer for the Department of the Premier, Mayor Alderman Franken and minister of agriculture Ivan Meyer showing off freshly made sausage and patti. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Mobile factory brings agri-processing to rural farmers

21st May 2022
Lauren Strever of amorentia sweet dragon fruit estate and Nursery, Micheal Muller of Muller familie boerdery trust and Stephen Mantsho of the South African avocado growers association. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Farmer 101: Holy guacemole! Growing avos worth a try

20th May 2022
The North West department of agriculture and rural development has been allocated a budget of R1.2 billion to spend in the new financial year. However, they have days to report back on how exactly they plant to use this money. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Portfolio committee not letting NW officials off the hook

20th May 2022

This chef is taking fine dining in Kimberley to the top

20th May 2022

Recipe: Butternut soup to go absolutely nuts for

20th May 2022
Gavin Kelly, chief executive officer of the Road Freight Association, says operating costs within the road freight and logistics sector have increased exponentially. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Perfect fuel storm in the road freight, logistics industry

20th May 2022
A burning passion for education and agriculture made it easy for Evelyn Fisher to fulfil her aspirations in the form of an agri academy. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Starting her agri academy a lifelong dream fulfilled

20th May 2022
Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) concludes today (Friday, 20 May). Global leaders are hoping for clear commitments on drought resilience and soil restoration before delegates head home. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

UN land conference: Soil, drought, gender top the talks

20th May 2022
Minister Ebrahim Patel has the eyes of the sugar industry on him as he delivers the department of trade, industry and competition's budget. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

‘Patel, don’t forget sugarcane Master Plan commitments’

20th May 2022
Pietermaritzburg farmer Andile Ngcobo counted among the thousands of visitors to Nampo. To allow for reduced daily capacity amid Covid-19 restrictions, the expo is held over a period of five days. Under the theme “Experience it”, organisers gave visitors a broad overview of the latest trends, equipment, vehicles and so much more offered to the agriculture sector. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

In pictures: Big toys (and smiles!) at Nampo

19th May 2022
Winter weather is coming, and farmers are advised to stay informed and to prepared as best they could to safeguard their fields and animals. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Weather warning: ‘Be extra cautious for pests, diseases’

20th May 2022
Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta has announced that Kenya will now be using agricultural land from parastatals and giving it to private companies to prioritise the production of food and cash crops. Photo: Supplied/Unsplash

Kenya to hand over land to private companies

19th May 2022
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
11 GLOBAL MEDIA AWARDS
Sun, May 22, 2022
Food For Mzansi
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
    • All
    • AgriCareers
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Farmers
    • Groundbreakers
    • Innovators
    • Inspiration
    • It Takes a Village
    • Mentors
    • Movers and Shakers
    • Partnerships
    A burning passion for education and agriculture made it easy for Evelyn Fisher to fulfil her aspirations in the form of an agri academy. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Starting her agri academy a lifelong dream fulfilled

    Driving local food security through research

    InnoFoodAfrica project brings food security home

    Iris Telmaggiers (fright), Sophie Sauir and Leoni Pasja harvesting green peppers from Sauir’s garden. Photo: Siphokazi Mnyobe

    Vegetable garden helps Iris cope with son’s death

    Agripreneur 101: Balance is key for this cannabis skincare producer

    Agripreneur 101: Meet a cannabis skincare producer

    Dr Obvious Mapiye, whose studies helped develop new livestock management software. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Dr Mapiye’s driven to help small-scale farmers commercialise

    Paballo Khoza is harvesting lettuce on his 6 000 square metre shade-netted farm in Westonaria Agri-Park. Photo: Magnificent Mndebele/Food For Mzansi

    Sweat, tears and dreadful walks: Khoza finally triumphs

    ‘Dream, then pursue it,’ urges tomato farmer

    Thabo Skhosana an emerging farmer in Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal wants to motivate young farmers who wants to study agriculture. Photo: Supplied/ Food For Mzansi

    ‘The future is ours for the taking,’ says young farmer

    Agripreneur: Learn from a cannabis skincare producer

    Agripreneur: Learn from a cannabis skincare producer

  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
No Result
View All Result
Food For Mzansi
Home Farmer's Inside Track

PODCAST: Tomato farmer shares the benefits of hydroponics farming

by Duncan Masiwa
7th Jan 2020
in Farmer's Inside Track
Reading Time: 2 mins read
A A
Booysen’s Tunnel Farming Managing Director, Byron Booysen (29) farms with farms with cocktail and beef tomatoes in Kraaifontein, Cape Town.

Booysen’s Tunnel Farming's big boss, Byron Booysen (29). Photo: Food For Mzansi

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

As a young lad growing up in Burgersdorp in the Eastern Cape, Byron Booysen always thought that growing food and feeding the nation was quite a cool thing to do. Being part of a family renowned for owning several businesses, he too wanted to flex his entrepreneurial muscles. Farming however, never crossed his mind.

Today, the 29-year-old is the managing director of Booysen’s Tunnel Farming and farms with cocktail and beef tomatoes in Kraaifontein, Cape Town.

The young hydroponics farmer joins Food For Mzansi editor Dawn Noemdoe and co-founder Kobus Louwrens on this week’s Farmer’s Inside Track podcast episode.

ADVERTISEMENT

In the podcast he shares enlightening snippets from his agricultural journey. Booysen explains that he knows all too well how daunting the process of applying for funding can be and shares a few tips on how aspiring commercial farmers can make the process easier on themselves.

“Having access to sources like the Farmer’s Inside Track is very helpful. Having access to communications is also key. There’s always a number that can give you another number that can help you,” Booysen explains.

His choice to pursue hydroponics, Booysen says, was strategic and he shares with Noemdoe and Louwrens why exactly he chose this method of farming.

“I chose hydroponics because of land availability. I knew that I had 1 hectare of land available and planting in soil would not give me the yields that I would have wanted. Therefore, growing tomatoes vertically makes up for the space,” Booysen says.

Further in the podcast, Booysen shares how he navigates through the challenge of accessing quality water for his farm. He also recalls some of the mistakes he made as a learner farmer, which eventually had a favourable outcome.

Listen to his podcast here.

The Farmer’s Inside Track podcasts and videos are recorded in both Cape Town and Johannesburg and are available on different platforms, including a weekly e-mailer, a WhatsApp line and a bustling Facebook group.

To get free access to all the exclusive content on Farmer’s Inside Track, head to farmersinsidetrack.co.za and sign up. To join the WhatsApp line, either click here or send a WhatsApp with the message “Sign me up for Farmer’s Inside Track” to +27 81 889 9032, providing your name and surname, e-mail address and province.

  • Farmer’s Inside Track is proudly brought to you by Food For Mzansi, Africa’s Best Digital News Start-up. Advertisers who wish to explore opportunities on any of the Farmer’s Inside Track channels can e-mail ivor@foodformzansi.co.za and kobus@foodformzansi.co.za.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Tags: Booysen’s Tunnel FarmingByron BooysenCape TownEastern Capeemerging commercial farmersHydroponics
Share196Tweet123Send
Duncan Masiwa

Duncan Masiwa

DUNCAN MASIWA is a budding journalist with a passion for telling great agricultural stories. He hails from Macassar, close to Somerset West in the Western Cape, where he first started writing for the Helderberg Gazette community newspaper. Besides making a name for himself as a columnist, he is also an avid poet who has shared stages with artists like Mahalia Buchanan, Charisma Hanekam, Jesse Jordan and Motlatsi Mofatse.

Related Posts

A burning passion for education and agriculture made it easy for Evelyn Fisher to fulfil her aspirations in the form of an agri academy. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Starting her agri academy a lifelong dream fulfilled

by Zolani Sinxo
20th May 2022
0

A burning passion for education and agriculture made it easy for Evelyn Fisher to fulfil her aspirations in the form...

Winter weather is coming, and farmers are advised to stay informed and to prepared as best they could to safeguard their fields and animals. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Weather warning: ‘Be extra cautious for pests, diseases’

by Nicole Ludolph
20th May 2022
0

As Mzansi braces itself for winter to arrive in full force, the National Agro-meteorological Committee warns that farmers should be...

Citrus protest: Residents of Kirkwood gather on the gravel road near Moses Mabhida township. Protesters have been interdicted from entering several farms in the Sundays River Valley. Photo: Bonile Bam/New Frame

Citrus protest: Packhouses empty, signs of sabotage

by Staff Reporter
9th May 2022
0

A major part of the citrus industry in the Eastern Cape is still at an impasse over a labour dispute...

Farmers and agri leaders reflect on what Freedom Day means, 28 years after Mzansi's first democratic elections. Photos: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Freedom Day: Black farmers still fighting for a dream

by Zolani Sinxo
27th Apr 2022
0

It's Freedom Day. As the country commemorates this important day in the history of South Africa, black farmers tell Food...

Mzansi Flavour

This chef is taking fine dining in Kimberley to the top

by Noluthando Ngcakani
20th May 2022
0

She started her career in the food industry as a waiter, but now chef Nelly Engelbrecht is wowing diners with...

Read more

Recipe: Butternut soup to go absolutely nuts for

20th May 2022
Gavin Kelly, chief executive officer of the Road Freight Association, says operating costs within the road freight and logistics sector have increased exponentially. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Perfect fuel storm in the road freight, logistics industry

20th May 2022
A burning passion for education and agriculture made it easy for Evelyn Fisher to fulfil her aspirations in the form of an agri academy. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Starting her agri academy a lifelong dream fulfilled

20th May 2022
Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) concludes today (Friday, 20 May). Global leaders are hoping for clear commitments on drought resilience and soil restoration before delegates head home. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

UN land conference: Soil, drought, gender top the talks

20th May 2022

Recipe: Butternut soup to go absolutely nuts for

Weather warning: ‘Be extra cautious for pests, diseases’

Liewe Lulu, I’m a broken-hearted farmer

Portfolio committee not letting NW officials off the hook

Podcast: Tips to tackle powdery mildew on tomatoes

Roads in disrepair: Farmers count the ‘wasted’ costs

THE NEW FACE OF SOUTH AFRICAN AGRICULTURE

With 11 global awards in the first three years of its existence, Food For Mzansi is much more than an agriculture publication. It is a movement, unashamedly saluting the unsung heroes of South African agriculture. We believe in the power of agriculture to promote nation building and social cohesion by telling stories that are often overlooked by broader society.

Mobile factory brings agri-processing to rural farmers

Farmer 101: Holy guacemole! Growing avos worth a try

Portfolio committee not letting NW officials off the hook

This chef is taking fine dining in Kimberley to the top

Recipe: Butternut soup to go absolutely nuts for

Perfect fuel storm in the road freight, logistics industry

  • Our Story
  • Contact Us
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright

Contact us
Office: +27 21 879 1824
WhatsApp line: +27 81 889 9032
Marketing: +27 71 147 0388
News: info@foodformzansi.co.za
Advertising: sales@foodformzansi.co.za

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought

Copyright © 2021 Food for Mzansi

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Go to mobile version