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Two meetings
of the Forage Division Committee were held during the period
under review, one at Cedara and one at Elsenburg. Several
important issues were discussed and are briefly summarized as
follows:
In the case of
Lucerne seed a reasonable crop was expected, which could be in
the region of 500 mt and it seemed as though the areas planted
were on the increase. Statutory measures were introduced during
the period under review, which enabled the lucerne hay industry
to become part of the Lucerne Seed Organization and the name of
the latter would be changed to National Lucerne Organization
(NLO). These measures would further enable the NLO to collect
information on seed sales, as well as register all relevant
producers of hay and seed. The forage division and the LSO
worked in conjunction to once again initiate national trials for
Lucerne seed after several years of incomplete information in
this regard. The localities for these trials would include
Elsenburg, Upington and Hartswater.
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Mr PS (Paul) Marais
Chairman
SANSOR Forage Division |
A new cultivar, SA Select was
released during the period under review and plant breeders
rights licences had been granted to five companies. In the case
of dry land lucerne trials, various discussions were held and
all stakeholders were keen to finalize this project in the
forthcoming year. High costs, however, were unfortunately
delaying this project.
In the case
of the statutory recognition of tetrazolium tests on Smuts
Finger grass seed, the Committee requested the Official Seed
Testing Laboratory to launch a new investigation, involving
private seed testing laboratories, to determine whether such
results on seed quality could be used in the seed trade.
In the case
of minimum seed quality requirements for White Buffalo grass,
Rhodesgrass and Smuts Finger grass, the Plant Improvement Act
would be amended to implement ISTA rule changes for these
species. This would result in a lower expression of germination
capacity as before. Marketing these grasses at seemingly lower
germination levels might be problematic and the industry might
have to decide on a campaign to inform farmers of the actual
quality.
Basic seed
projects for Panicum maximum (Gatton), Eragrostis
curvula (Ermelo & Umgeni), Digitaria eriantha
(Irene), forage sorghum (Silk), Cenchrus ciliaris
(Molopo) and Anthephera pubescens (Wollie) continued
and basic seed would be available on advanced order.
The
National Rye grass Evaluation Programme (NREP) trials continued
during the period under review and promising results and
information were emanating from this project. A positive
development was the inclusion of Nooitgedacht in the
trials, as this had been a shortcoming in need to be rectified.
Another
issue worthwhile mentioning, was a proposal to apply for funds
for a research project on nematode galls and its effect on the
industry, which had been submitted to the National Department of
Agriculture.
The SANSOR
Forage Division went through an extremely tough year owing to,
amongst others, shortages in ryegrass and various other crops.
Imports had to be conducted on a very large scale and delivery
to clients was often problematic. The maize price also
contributed to an increase in the demand for forage and pasture
seed and the need for farmers to diversify and increase their
livestock component further contributed to even bigger
shortages.
As chairman
of the SANSOR Forage Division, I want to thank and congratulate
all members who made inputs and contributed to lively debates on
various other issues like seed quality, Table 8 listings, seed
certification, brown bag sales, evaluation of various species
and new releases of genetic material.
Table 3 reflects the updated market statistics for the year 2003
of the most important forage and pasture crops under the
auspices of the SANSOR Forage Division.
SOUTH AFRICAN SEED MARKET FOR FORAGE CROPS - 2003
| CROP |
SALES VOLUME (MT) |
SALES VALUE (R Mil) |
| Pearl Milllet |
700 |
3,9 |
| Blue Buffalo Grass |
15 |
1,0 |
| Bottlebrush Grass |
15 |
0,5 |
| Oats |
6 000 |
20,0 |
| Kikuyu |
10 |
3,0 |
| Clovers |
35 |
1,8 |
| Triticale |
3000 |
7,5 |
| Cocksfoot |
10 |
0,4 |
| Common Cynodon |
40 |
2,4 |
| Tall fescue |
60 |
1,3 |
| Lupins |
1 000 |
2,8 |
| Lucerne |
600 |
21,0 |
| Weeping lovegrass |
60 |
2,7 |
| Dallis grass |
12 |
0,7 |
| Other legume crops |
150 |
5,0 |
| Phalaris |
5 |
0,2 |
| Annual ryegrass |
1 000 |
12,0 |
| Perennial ryegrass |
200 |
6,0 |
| Rhodes grass |
25 |
1,2 |
| Rye |
1 500 |
6,0 |
| Smuts finger grass |
60 |
2,1 |
| Teff |
400 |
5,0 |
| Fodder radish |
70 |
1,3 |
| Forage sorghum |
1 200 |
5,4 |
| Perennial forage
sorghum |
60 |
1,0 |
| White Buffalo grass |
20 |
1,2 |
| Cowpeas |
600 |
4,0 |
| General |
150 |
1,7 |
| TOTAL |
16 997 |
121,1 |
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