Interested in which South African agri sectors are set to receive energy and attention from government as per its strategy?

The Department of Trade & Industry identifies economic sectors and subsectors to which it should lend its weight. These sectors have potential to grow jobs and the economy, all the more so if government could lend a hand. These areas for government attention can be found in South Africa's Industrial Policy Action Plans (IPAPs).

We will look at which areas are of interest to agriculture in the IPAP for the years 2013/14 - 2015/16, and provide a link to where overviews of those sectors can be found in The Agri Handbook.

Key action programmes still include the following from the previous IPAP:

= development of a food processing strategy and action plan
= development of a soybean strategy action plan
= development of the organic food sector
= development of the small-scale milling industry
= enhancement of the competitiveness of the domestic fruit and vegetable canning industry

Although not specifically agriculture, we mention here the so-called Green industries (which include renewable energy).

Areas covered in the previous IPAP which have not been renewed are the implementation of the water efficiency programme for the sugar sector and the promotion of rooibos and honeybush exports.

Aquaculture is identified for increased intervention, as are biofuels and forestry.

A new programme in agro-processing is that of supporting the public-private partnership for food security, primarily through increasing the participation of smallholder farmers in the formal agro-processing sector. This is to happen through giving these farmers access to the retail sector, government procurement and small-scale processing opportunities.

Event Notification: AMT South African Agricultural Outlook Conference - 30 September 2013

We have attended most of the AMT conferences since 2003 when we began to do research for The Agri Handbook. Since our first edition, we have also had an exhibition stall at many of the conferences.

Each time we have found the AMT conference valuable – not only the scenarios and addresses by experts, but also the interaction which happens at question time or over coffee and snacks after the session. Should you wish to exhibit or attend, you will find the information below helpful. Mention that you found out about the event via this website and you will receive a discount on your booking.

Click to enlarge

Programme:

 Other details:

	English Programme and Afrikaans Press Release
	Keynote speaker - Thad Simons (Novus International)

 Who should attend?

• Agribusiness managers (in investment, finance, and risk management) and directors
• Bankers lending to the agribusiness sector
• Accountants and lawyers to agribusiness
• Government
• Producers and Producer organizations
• Retail: supermarkets, all food industries

For queries or bookings contact:

Minda Reinet Bornman
Communications and Marketing Manager
Aginfo trading as AMT (Pty) Ltd.
Telephone: +27 (0)12 348 8344/27 (0)12 3612748
Cell: +27 (0)82 575 4282
Fax:: +27 (0)866159199

Please Welcome "Die Agri Handboek 2013/14"

Hi Everyone,

I help Craig put The Agri Handbook together and will occasionally be posting here too.

This post is to make you aware of the Afrikaans version of The Agri Handbook, which was launched on 10 May 2013  and is available to view, search and download here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/140582922/Die-Agri-Handboek-2013-14, or you can use this shortened URL to tweet it to your friends: http://goo.gl/QaGCj.

Just for fun we have embedded it below.

Please feel free to embed the publication in your website too. Your readers will appreciate the free information and support on agriculture, and you will increase traffic to your website.

The steps to follow to embed the publication are here. It won't cost you any bandwidth because Scribd.com covers that. Readers stay on your site so you don't loose any visitors. Another nice feature is that you can link to a specific page in the book (such as your advert, if you are an advertiser, or a specific crop if you are a researcher or NGO).

Below for example is the embedded publication starting on page 394, which shows one of Stargate Scientific's adverts on rapid GMO testing. You will notice that the advert is in Afrikaans.One of the many benefits  of advertising in The Agri Handbook is that you can place an Afrikaans version of the same advert in Die Agri Handboek at no additional charge. And then you can embed the publication on your website, starting at your advert in the book.

Die Agri Handboek 2013-14 by Craig Macaskill

If this is too big, don't worry because you can make it smaller like this, or even smaller (using custom dimensions):

Die Agri Handboek 2013-14 by Craig Macaskill

By the way, if you haven't yet booked your advert in our next edition, please download the rate card below and get the benefit of the old pricing by booking as soon as possible.

AHB Advertiser Rate Card

Remember that everything above can be done for the English language edition of the publication as well, follow the same embedding instructions, but substitute The Agri Handbook for Die Agri Handboek.

We will post again here once the hard copy version of Die Agri Handboek is available. For now you can order the eBook CD-ROM which includes both the English and Afrikaans editions for only R150 inc VAT.

The ISBN Number for Die Agri Handboek is 978-0-620-56766-4, and for The Agri Handbook it is  978-0-620-55509-8.

Farming in Cape Town

Have you imagined producing your own vegetables, herbs and fish on a small scale for your own consumption or for a niche market?

In its latest issue, Landbouweekblad reports on something happening at the V&A Waterfront within the Mother City. Moyo restaurant, with initial help from Stellenbosch University, grows its own vegetables, herbs and fish using an aquaponics system.

Aquaoponics uses water from a fish tank to feed plants. Of course it isn't simply ordinary water. Thanks to the fish, it is rich with nutrients, specifically nitrates and phosphates, and these become the primary inputs for the plants. Leslie Ter Morshuizen, the major contributor to the aquaculture chapter in The Agri Handbook, writes that there are several benefits to aquaponics, including healthy plant roots, fewer pest problems, rapid growth and high production levels per unit area.

Read about urban agriculture, aquaculture, herbs and vegetables chapters in The Agri Handbook.