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To the letter –
WINNING WRITERS OFF TO AUSTRALIA
THIS YEAR, TWO VERY SPECIAL SOUTH AFRICAN AGRICULTURE
STUDENTS GOT THE CHANCE OF A LIFETIME WHEN THEIR
LETTERS WON THEMSELVES A TRIP TO THE 2015
GLOBAL YOUTH AG-SUMMIT THAT TOOK
NICOLA THERON
PLACE IN CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA FROM
24 TO 28 AUGUST. AUBREY KRUGER
T
his project is a partnership
between Bayer
CropScience and Future Farmers
Network (FFN) in Australia
and it sets the scene with these
students acting as the future
leaders to resolve farming issues
with the 2015 theme: “Feeding a
hungry planet”.
These two South African
students are Nicola Theron and
Wilbri Vorster. Theron (21) is
a third year BSc Agriculture
student, studying Soil Science
and Agronomy, at the University
of the Free State, with Vorster
(22) being a final year BSc
(Agric) Plant Pathology student
at the University of Pretoria.
They had the honour of
being the only two South
African students at the 2015
Global Youth Ag-Summit after
their letters were chosen from
approximately 2 000 entrants.
Theron focused her letter on a
not so well known, In-FieldRainwater-Harvesting technique,
to help with water shortages
in dry rural areas. Her letter
was about how this technique
combines zero-tillage, water
harvesting and small basins.
Theron, who matriculated
at Hoërskool Bothaville, says
she first heard about the
letter competition from
Lisa Coetzee, a plant
pathology student
who went to Canada
in the past. She feels
strongly about the
water shortage problem
since she experienced the
drought last year and the
one a decade ago at their family
farm. She says that even a little
water can make a big difference.
She ended \