Economic Opportunities
What pro-active measures has he or his Department put in place to deal with the shortage of land in terms of agriculture production and an increasing population?
I totally agree with your statement that Agricultural land is a scarce resource. This is not only unique to the Western Cape, but a general concern through country. It is therefore imperative that this resource is appropriately protected and managed to ensure food availability and security to meet the demands of the growing population. The Department has two notable pro-active focal areas in addressing this, i.e. subdivision/rezoning inputs and the increase in agricultural production with innovative technology development and decision support.
Subdivision/rezoning inputs:
- All applications for the subdivision and/or rezoning of agricultural land are dealt with in line with the provision of the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act, Act 70 of 1970. The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries are the primary custodians of this piece of legislation. All applications are therefore adjudicated by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
- The Western Cape Department of Agriculture provide comments on each application received to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
- Agricultural potential of the land, the suitability to produce crops, the availability of water, the possible impact on adjacent agricultural activities and the impact on food security are some of the main aspects that are taken into account in the adjudication of these applications.
Increase in agricultural production with innovative technology development and decision support:
The Department of Agriculture Western Cape has increased capacity over the years to ensure the agricultural sector of innovative solutions and decision support to increase agricultural production on existing agricultural land. For the purpose of this question, two innovative are highlighted:
a) Spatial intelligence – the key to decision support
The Department embarked on an innovative project in 2013 with the field scale aerial mapping of all agricultural commodities and infrastructure in the Western Cape. The project aims to address the needs of a wide range of Departmental stakeholders, making this an agricultural inventory upon which decisions are made to increase our agricultural footprint and production levels. The survey will provide a benchmark for future changes (e.g climate change, economics, land reform and urbanisation) that can be measured and also assist with the decision making process. The survey will also define high potential and unique agricultural land in order to protect it from development in accordance with new land use planning laws and regulations.
b) Conservation Agriculture (CA) – the key to higher production, lower input cost and increased soil health
The conservation agricultural expertise of the Department is acknowledged internationally and nationally, and spans from small grain production in both Overberg and Swartland as well as rooibos production along the West Coast and potato production in Sandveld.
In terms of small grain production, 84% of farmers have adopted this technology and reported an increase in total production on their farms, whilst 94% of farmers reported an increase in total income per hectare.
The long-term trial in Swartland has shown that by applying crop rotation and no-till, gross margins of the whole farm increased by between 23% and 68% versus the monoculture production of wheat. Furthermore, the yield of wheat in rotation with other crops increased by 12% and 41% depending on the system. This “new method” of production resulted in a production cost of R4444/ha for a yield of 3 tons under conventional methods, whilst conservation agriculture produced the same yield at a cost R2 387/ha. Furthermore, 46 times more herbicides were required under conventional farming than with CA.
In terms of carbon emissions and soil health, large implements now use 6 litres of fuel per hectare under CA practises compared to 40 litres/ha under conventional practises, thus saving immensely in the amount of CO2 emitted from the use of fossil fuel. CA improved the carbon content of the soil from less than 0,5% to 2.3% over time. The improvement of soil health over time through less disturbance of the soil will improve production even further in this regard.
