A competitive agriculture sector capable of creating jobs, especially among poor rural communities in South Africa, is needed to achieve sustainable economic growth in a developing society, says the Agricultural Research Council (ARC).

Agricultural developments and technology transfer are critical in creating a sustainable and competitive agriculture sector.

For this reason, the ARC continues to encourage new developments and technology transfer through various projects, such as its recent release of 18 new cultivars to horticultural commodity groups, as well as projects on rural food production, conservation agriculture and agroprocessing.

“These cultivars are important for the horticulture industry as they enable improvements in farm productivity, agroprocessing, postharvest handling, sustainable natural-resource use, competitiveness and market access,” says ARC Field Crops division GM Dr Cobus le Roux.

The ARC will provide technology transfer services and exhibit its small grains, crop grains, industrial crops, agricultural engineering, animal production and vegetable and ornamental plants at this year’s Nampo Harvest Day, in Bothaville, Free State, from May 14 to 17.

“Nampo Harvest Day is a one-stop event for scientists to meet and network with local and international industry partners. Therefore, the ARC aims to network and liaise with its total clientele spectrum at Nampo Harvest Day this year and to identify agricul- tural producers’ new research and development (R&D) and product needs,” says Le Roux.

The ARC’s research institutes will display and communicate their latest and most relevant technologies, production and cost-saving practices, their newest high-yielding cultivars and their spectrum of services rendered to smallholder and commercial agricultural producers. The 2013 production guidelines for crops, such as maize, wheat, barley and oats, will also be highlighted.

The state of the South African agriculture sector varies between the most competitive agricultural commodities, such as maize, wine and citrus, and extremely noncompetitive agricultural commodities, such as wheat and barley, says Le Roux.

“The level of government support from competing countries, the international supply and demand numbers and continuing spells of droughts and floods in the major exporting countries determine the competitiveness or noncompetitiveness of the various agricultural commodities in South Africa.”

Le Roux adds that, as a result, some of the significant changes that the agriculture sector in South Africa faces include its competitiveness in relation to other exporting countries, increased input costs, low crop productivity, irregular weather patterns and labour unrest, as well as the country’s ability to continuously deliver high-quality products.

To overcome these challenges, the ARC has several scientific interventions that are directly focused on increasing crop productivity and cost-saving production practices such as conservation agriculture.

Further, the ARC encourages the limiting of chemical use in favour of biological control methods, works towards counteracting gradual but worrying climate change effects, provides better diagnostic and analytical services to agricultural producers and develops higher-yielding disease-resistant cultivars for smallholder and commercial agricultural producers.

To ensure that the South African agriculture sector remains as competitive as possible, agricultural producers need to become as internationally competitive as possible by achieving more with less.

The country also needs to become food secure through local production, as opposed to relying on the present food imports, which cost the country billions of rands in foreign exchange each year, notes Le Roux.

“The industry will grow only if it can com- pete with price and quality and if it is successful in producing value-added products, in addition to the current production of mainly agricultural commodities,” he says.

As food security is the ARC’s responsibility, as well as continuously meeting the food needs of the country, the council helps to ensure that there is always good-quality and sufficient food for the nation by promoting the sustainable use and management of natural resources.

“We do this by assisting the relevant agricultural production and retail industries in becoming competitive, while ensuring affordable food prices, especially for the poor,” says Le Roux.

The ARC is continuously active in fostering an environment where members of society can benefit, thereby assisting the country in meeting the basic socioeconomic needs of its people.

“Further, the ARC provides agricultural producers with high-quality information and knowledge, while ensuring that resource-poor farmers receive proper technical guidance.”

South Africa, while still a net food exporter, is importing major staples, such as 1.4-million tons a year of wheat and all of the country’s rice supply.

Le Roux maintains that factors such as climate change, which results in increasing drought and flood spells, higher basic food costs, the closure of rice, wheat and maize exports by major exporting countries and the significant downward trend in the provision of funding for much-needed agricultural R&D interventions are affecting Africa’s ability to become food secure.

It is not only access to basic food that is a concern, but also the affordability thereof in rural and urban areas, says Le Roux.

“South Africa’s poorest are spending up to 40% of their total income on accessing basic food, which is totally unsustainable.”

Each relevant government needs to show dedication and commitment to provide R&D funding, training to increase scientific capacity, access to sound and timeous market information and proper price-forming markets to overcome the challenges associated with food security.

It is also government’s responsibility to foster an agricultural producer-friendly production environment, a well-trained labour force and competitively priced production inputs, as well as provide the necessary infrastructure, such as roads, and stable electricity supply, says Le Roux.

“The country’s technological interventions are directly linked to its ability to become locally and internationally competitive and the ARC is working towards ensuring high-level technological interventions,” he concludes.