Farmers Review Africa March/April 2020 Farmers Review Africa March - April 2020 digital ( | Page 15
FEATURE
Investment in technology vital to boost
agricultural output and exports
S
outh African agriculture needs more
investment and the implementation of the
latest technology to boost output, not only
for local consumption, but also for vitally needed
exports to boost foreign exchange earnings.
Opportunities to increase exports exist provided
they conform to international standards such as
traceability.
One of the ways to unlock agriculture’s potential
is to increase investment in research and
development (R&D), according to Dr Thulasizwe
Mkhabela, Group Executive, Impact and
Partnerships at the Agricultural Research Council
(ARC).
Speaking at the Africa Agri Tech Conference
and Expo in Pretoria he said that current overall
expenditure on R&D in South Africa was only
R32-billion a year, which equates to 0.8% of
GDP. This is way below the 1.5% R&D investment
proposed in the National Development Plan
(NDP). Agriculture gets only R2.6-billion or
0.8% of the current amount, which is way
below requirements. This sum is made up of a
contribution of 44.6% from the public coffers,
38.9% from private organisations and companies
and 16.5% from foreign sources.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR) is another organisation that has a big
focus on assisting the agricultural industry
and is deeply involved the latest technological
developments. fertilisers and pesticides to replace existing
chemical products. This provides South African
companies and organisations an opportunity to
develop these products as there appear to be no
or few local manufacturers at present.
Dr Moses Azong Cho, Research Group Leader,
Precision Agriculture at the CSIR highlighted a
need to create a dedicated group of scientists to
assist in adapting precision farming techniques
to suit local conditions and budgets. Current
precision farming projects under development at
the CSIR are driven using affordable satellite data
to produce Normalised Difference Vegetation
Index (NDVI) information. Ramchuran announced that the CSIR was
involved in developing these products and
already had some ready for commercialisation.
One of these, in prototype form, had already
contributed to an 85.2% increase in wheat crop
yield. It is now awaiting proposals from SMMEs
to bring this unique product to market.
Dr Santosh Ramchuran, Research Group Leader,
Bioprocess Development at the CSIR advocated
the use of more bio-based control agents as
Scientific presentations related to agriculture
and Africa Agri Tech included content from
the Department of Science and Innovation,
The Innovation Hub, the Agricultural Research
Council and CSIR.
Mkhabela lobbied for more financial support for
the ARC which he says will provide big returns
for the future growth of agriculture in terms of
expanding exports, providing employment and
the overriding objective of providing food security,
in a world where the population explosion is
putting a big strain on food supplies.
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