Wheat |
A partnership
between government and the wheat production sector has led to the launch
of a platform that will improve wheat yields, despite the challenging
climate.
The
multimillion-rand Wheat Breeding Platform at Welgevallen Experimental
Farm in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape -- established in 2014 as a
consortium comprising public and private sector partners -- is also set
to help South Africa meet the current local wheat demand and also become
a wheat exporter.
Speaking shortly
after the launch of the platform, Science and Technology Minister Naledi
Pandor said the platform was launched after a partnership was forged
between the private sector, particularly the wheat industry, and
government to seek solutions to address challenges faced by the industry
in relation to low production and competitiveness, as well as the
country's rising demand for the commodity.
"It is very
important that we work with researchers to support and enhance our
agricultural productivity by producing products that will respond to the
particular conditions in which we do agriculture in South Africa and on
the African continent.
"We also want to
particularly focus on seed products that are relevant to our conditions
so those areas in which we wish to increase exports and reduce imports.
We look at improved maize yields, improved wheat yields.
"We import over 46%
of our wheat into South Africa. If we can improve the quality and have a
larger product coming out of seeds that we produce innovatively in
South Africa, that would be excellent," she said.
The Minister said
the department's involvement was basically to provide funding support
through relevant programmes to fund research and development in an
identified focus area.
The department has
invested R15 million into a multi-consortium wheat breeding programme
with the aim of improving abiotic stresses such as drought and extreme
temperatures.
The platform is a
partnership between the department, Grain SA, the Department of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Agricultural Research Council,
Sensako, Pannar and Stellenbosch University, among others.
Wheat is the second most important grain crop produced in South Africa and plays an important role in national food security.
With the Western
Cape recently being hit by drought conditions that are threatening food
safety, Minister Pandor said the initiative is expected to assist
farmers cope with crop demands.
"What we are
attempting to do is to respond to specific conditions that we are
confronted with in South Africa... Where there is uncertainty about
water resources, it doesn't make sense to rely on the normal seeds that
everybody uses, assuming particular levels of moisture availability.
"What we are doing
is using science, especially biotechnology, to develop seeds that are
responsive to drought conditions. That will give us a higher yield,
notwithstanding the challenges that we have with respect to water."
Marinda Visser, a
manager of Grain Research and Policy at Grain SA, said the initiative
came to light in 2014. It was driven by a sharp decline of wheat
production in the country.
"We went from over
1.4 million hectares planted to a situation where currently, less than
500 000 hectares are planted. To be exact, 420 000 hectares are planted
currently.
"In the late 1990s,
we used to plant 1.4 million hectares to wheat. What does that tell
you? We have a problem. The wheat industry is in distress and there are
many different reasons - profitability, the climate, investments in
research and development and research... That is why industry went to
government, asked for assistance and formed this partnership where we
got together and figured out how to go about it.
"Some of the
challenges were economic and we went to the Department of Trade and
Industry for tariffs and talked about what needs to be done in that
space. Some were policy regulatory issues and we went to the Department
of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and discussed those issues.
"We went to the
Department of Science and Technology and asked if they can make
investments and partner with the industry, which until that stage, had
been paying for all the research and development in the wheat industry,"
Visser said.
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