Farmers in South Africa (SA) face challenges everyday as they not only deal with increased pressure from pests and diseases, but also struggle to produce good yields under difficult growing conditions due to adverse weather conditions such as increased temperatures and prolonged periods of little to no rainfall. It is therefore, imperative that farmers are made aware of all agricultural technologies and options available to them to maximise their crop yields in a sustainable and efficient manner.

In pursuit of achieving this goal, CropLife South Africa embarked on a farmer training initiative in collaboration with its service provider, Megabiotech Solutions, and collaborating partners, Corteva Agriscience and the Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (LDARD). One of the primary objectives of the farmer information day was to utilise biotech maize demonstration trials as a platform to gather smallholder farmers and educate them on insect resistant (IR) and herbicide tolerant (HT) seed technology. This included information about how biotech crops can be incorporated within a broader pest management system with responsible use of plant protection solutions and sustainable agricultural practices.

A successful farmer information day was held on the 23rd of March 2023 at Sisimuka Getle, Mopane region, Giyani. A total of 53 growers from the Giyani area and surrounding Mopane region attended the event. Other attendees included: officials from LDARD and biotechnology industry representatives from CropLife SA and Corteva Agriscience.

The event was kicked off by a prayer from a volunteer farmer followed by welcome remarks from the host farmer, Mr Jackson Baloyi. A round of introductions were made by Ms MJ Raseasala (LDARD), which was followed by opening remarks from Ms Rebina Sasa (LDARD). Ms Sassa reitereated the importance of the farmer training event in terms of information sharing regarding biotechnology and intergrated pest management (IPM). She encouraged farmers to use the platform as an opportunity to learn and ask questions about these topics. Mr Rod Bell, CropLife SA CEO, also provided opening remarks, outlining the role of CropLife as a national industry assosciation and elaborated on its advocacy work in communicating key messages on all crop protection solutions including biotechnology.

The formal training programme included presentations on the following topics:

• Introduction to biotech traits and how they work
• Fall armyworm (FAW) overview
• Intergrated pest management – best practices and responsible use of pesticides and container management
• Overview of the maize demonstration trial
• Bt-HT maize experience - farmer testimonial

Ms Chantel Arendse introduced the farmers to HT maize, otherwise known as Roundup ready maize. She explained how weed control works with the cultivation of Roundup ready technology and what agricultural best practices should be followed for effective weed management in the field. Explanations were also provided on IR maize or Bt maize highlighting how the genetics of the plants offer protection against targeted pests such as the maize stem borer, spotted stem borer and FAW. Her talk emphasised the importance of why and how to plant a refuge to manage insect resistance and how it should be integrated within a broader pest management approach involving good agricultural practices.

Mr Hiresh Ramanand provided farmers with an overview of FAW, covering the pest’s life cycle, biology and damage symptoms. He also provided details about what IPM entails within the context of managing FAW and further elaborated on the responsible, safe use and storage of pesticides on farms. He emphasised the need for farmers to read the label, apply pesticides with caution using the correct personal protective equipment (PPE) and to consult with extension officers or CropLife SA if they are unsure. Mr Zweli Mgayo, A CropLife SA certified recycler, briefed the farmers on how to triple rinse, puncture and recycle their empty plastic pesticide containers.

Mr Lesley Mabasa from Megabiotech Solutions gave an overview of the Bt-HT maize trial. He explained how the trials were established to give an opportunity to farmers to have firsthand experience on how the technology works. He introduced the two biotech demonstration trial farmers, giving them each a platform to share their trial experiences with the farmer audience. In summary, Mr Ellias Mosomane and Mr Jacskon Baloyi highlighted to attendees that they witnessed how Bt maize was not damaged by keypests and that they found relief from manual weeding through the planting of herbicide tolerant maize. They shared how much easier it was to manage the Bt/HT maize because they didn’t have to spray pesticides to control key pests and didn’t need to hire manual labour for weeding which tended to be costly. Above all, they encouraged their fellow farmers to try the technology for themselves.

Fig 1: Biotech maize trial farmers sharing their experiences with fellow farmers

The formal training programme was concluded with field demonstrations. Farmers were dividied into groups and led into the field by Mr Lesley Mabasa and Ms Marleen van Rooyen from Corteva Agrisience. The demonstration included using lateral strip tests for the extraction of the Bt gene from the Bt maize plants, thereby demonstrating to farmers the importance of knowing what biotech seed varieties they are planting and the difference between Bt and non-Bt maize. This activity also enabled farmers to observe firsthand the pest damage symptoms on the herbicide tolerant crop refuge versus the protected Bt maize crop.

Fig 2. Field visit and Bt gene lateral flow test demonstration

A similar training programme followed in the afternoon session with a total of 48 crop science students from the University of Limpopo. The students, under the supervision of their lecturer, Dr Sandile Hadebe, were very engaging on the topics being presented and responded with many questions. The students also demonstrated interest in gathering their own data on the maize trial as part of their class assignment.

Following the information sessions, farmer feedback and discussions were encouraged through several questions directed at the farmers in attendance. Based on the responses and discussions, farmers generally displayed a basic understanding of the messages and content that were communicated during the presentations, despite the language barrier and overcoming translation challenges.

One question that was repeatedly queried and subsequently clarified pertained to the planting of a refuge as part of product stewardship and compliance. An eye opening remark was the admission by farmers that they were uninformed about the risks posed by empty pesticide containers that are not triple rinsed, and the fact that it is illegal to burn or bury empty pesticide containers.. This feedback provides clear indication that training for smallholder farmers needs to address the basics in terms of good agricultural practices and IPM. It also highlights the existing knowledge gaps of extension officials and the need to address their capacity to provide relevant, credible information to farmers. Overall, there was general appreciation for the information that was presented with several comments emphasising the importance of farmers to adhere to and apply the knowledge gained from the day.

• The trials provided selected smallholder farmers with practical hands-on experience and crop management skills with the cultivation of Bt and HT maize.
• Farmers and extension officers from the surrounding Giyani community and Capricorn district were capacitated with information on IR and HT trait technology, FAW and how to responsibly integrate and safely use crop protection products to manage pests.
• The role of CropLife SA as the national industry association and its value as a credible resource for information was firmly established, raising the profile of the association.
• The training activity also presented networking opportunities for farmers to broaden their access to industry stakeholders, service providers and provincial officials in order to provide follow-up services and information to promote stewardship of biotech seed technology and crop protection products, including container management.
• Exposure of university students to the practical challenges that farmers experience in the field, IPM principles and its application in the field, as well as the demonstrated potential of biotech seed technologies.

Based on the good turnout and feedback received from attendees at the farmers information day, the training activity is considered a successful start to rolling out direct farmer outreach programmes to educate and amplify key messages on stewardship and the responsible use of plant protection products, including biotech seed technologies. Key recommendations include:

• Further consideration will need to be given to simplifiying the modalities of accessing farmers for participation in outreach programmes. In this regard cooperation with commodity organisations, technology members, existing farmer development programmes or platforms should be explored as an alternative approach.
• While biotech demonstration trials provide a good platform for ensuring a “seeing is believing” approach, the establishment of trials with smalholder farmers that are unfamiliar with the technology presents its own challenges and requires a lot more hands-on oversight and monitoring. Alternative avenues such as utilising smallholder farmer sites in remote areas that are already cultivating IR and HT traited seed may be a more manageable option for future biotech demonstration trial sites.
• The training event also highlighted the knowledge gaps of farmers, as well as LDARD extension officials with regard to basic information on available seed technologies and stewardship practises for responsible use of crop protection solutions. This implies that there are numerous opportunities for CropLife SA and collaborating partners to capacitate and educate farmers and provincial officials so that they progress towards the adoption of sustainable and safe production practices, while achieving food security for themselves and their surrounding communities. The feasibility and modalities of extending outreach and education to smallholder farmers beyond just Giyani, Limpopo will need to be explored further to determine how best to grow the baseline of farmers trained through CropLife SA’s advocacy and training initiatives.
• The event has also been a useful platform for outreach to the University of Limpopo crop science students who were in attendance. This presented students with the opportunity to bridge the gap between academic learning and practical on-farm technology applications. This helped to generate a better understanding of the challenges that farmers face. This stakeholder group presents a further opportunity to expand the network and scope of influence amongst the younger generation, as an additional avenue to spread key messages on product stewardship and responsible use within the agricultural communities and areas from which they come from.