Dutch companies help bring undercover farming to South Africa
The conference
The conference took a tune of empowerment for black emerging farmers around Gauteng Province. Through the facilitation of the Provincial Department of Agriculture, it was attended by about 200 individuals representing the emerging farmers community of South Africa. These emerging farmers spent the two days listening to the presentations made by various experts in Undercover Farming. The farmers also had the opportunity of viewing samples of technologies exhibited at the conference.
The Dutch Connection
Undercover experts from the Netherlands have been participating in the Undercover Expo Conference for a number of years. It was at the Undercover Expo conference where a South Africa – Netherlands horticultural platform (RSA-NED Horticulture Business Platform) was formed in 2013 through the facilitation of the Agricultural Counselor’s office at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Pretoria. The platform had the mission to enhance horticulture business in South Africa based on the latest technologies.
Hoogendoorn and Bosman Van Zaal at the PMA
At the 2017 Undercover Expo Conference, five Dutch Companies, Hoogendoorn, Bosman Van Zaal, Svensson, Delphy, and 30MHz presented their cutting edge technologies through exhibitions, technical presentations and informal discussions. Hoogendoorn made a presentation entitled “Smart greenhouse concepts for Africa” which highlighted some of the projects that the company has implemented in African countries, such as Kenya, to empower small scale farmers aspiring to upscale their enterprises. This presentation portrayed a picture of adaptation to the local context by technical experts operating in Africa from overseas.
Delphy at the PMA
Delphy made a presentation on elongating the crop cycle which was also another example of agricultural practices designed to adapt to the local and changing conditions. Both presentations highlighted opportunities for improving production and other value change aspects in the context of undercover farming.
General remarks
In general the Conference provided a challenge to the emerging farmers, especially by showing that undercover production is a highly scientific enterprise. Some of the exhibitors portrayed the picture that effective application of the scientific information provided could be achieved through other on-going support services such as extension services. The technical nature of some of the information was probably too high for the level of the farming community represented at the conference to grasp and apply without handholding support. The presentation made by Hoogendoorn had a significant relevance to the audience as it challenged them to compare their business environment with that of other communities of similar business status.
Source: Agroberichten Buitenland