Various Role Players Collaborate to Ensure Pollinator Safety
The crop protection industry, together with a number of grower and beekeeping associations, have committed to ensuring that their activities are conducted in such a way that pollinator safety is a key priority. To this end, a pollinator charter was created in which all parties involved agreed that their members shall adhere to the guidelines […]
2020 Agricultural Writers SA Awards: A Tribute to the Heroes of Agriculture
South Africa’s contributors to agriculture in a time of crisis have been recognised at the Agricultural Writers SA Awards on 13 November in a virtual event dedicated to the heroes of agriculture in 2020. The reason for the change in theme of the awards, which traditionally presented the farmer, agriculturalist and new entrant to commercial […]
Part 2: The Wonders and Beauty of Chemistry… and the BS
In this 4-part series, renowned toxicologist and organic chemist dr. Gerhard Verdoorn takes us on a journey to illustrate some of the fundamentals of chemistry. In doing so, the widely misunderstood subject of what makes a product toxic as well as organic versus synthetic chemistry will be explored and explained with the help of practical […]
GMOs: Food for Thought
Chantel Arendse Lead: Plant Biotechnology Contrary to popular belief, farmers have been altering the genetics of organisms for 10 000 plus years while they domesticated plants and animals. The more traditional methods of crop improvement involved saving seeds from the best-looking plants for succeeding growing seasons and eventually selectively breeding the most desirable parents to produce […]
From the Biotech Desk – Crop Circular Issue 6
Chantel Arendse Lead: Plant Biotechnology June 1st marked the official transition of the plant biotechnology programme to CropLife SA with the establishment of the biotech desk. The first order of business was to engage industry members and stakeholders on the critical priority areas that would frame the strategic goals and map the workplan of the […]
Read the Label Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) – Championing Bees
Q&A with Roger Poole (Chairman: Timber Industry Pesticide Working Group) Where did the idea of combining the messages of ‘read the label’ with the plight of bees come from? This SOP was inspired by a CropLife SA article in the 2nd 2019 edition of the Crop Circular entitled “Canola Insecticides and Bee Safety Alert”. The […]
The Wonders and Beauty of Chemistry… And the BS – Part 1
In this four-part series, toxicologist and organic chemist dr. Gerhard Verdoorn takes us on a journey to illustrate some of the fundamentals of chemistry. In doing so, the widely misunderstood subject of what makes a product toxic as well as organic versus synthetic chemistry will be explained with the help of practical examples and within […]
The Do’s and Don’ts in Ensuring Pollinator Safety
It is no secret that pollinators play a crucial role in sustainable agriculture, and no one should be more aware of this than farmers, however, there are incidents where pollinators are adversely affected by the improper use of pesticides. Why is this still the case? In South Africa, pesticides can only be registered after a […]