Undercover Farming Expo & Conference creates new business opportunities:
South Africa: Increasing interest in high-tech management systems for horticulture
For the third year running from March 4 to 6, the Pretoria-based Expo will bring together growers and suppliers from all over the world to share information and create business opportunities that will ultimately help to expand and develop the South African greenhouse industry.
Organiser, Johan Swiegers, was initially prompted to organise the Expo because of the lack of organised events that brought industry professionals together.
“I attended the different organisations like SAGFA (the South African Flower Growers Association) and the Association for Vegetables Under Protection (AVUP), and in their AGMs you might find two or three service providers with just a table and a few pamphlets.
“Therefore we decided to find an area where we could have an Expo because of the high demand for technical information and a conference for the producers,” said Johan.
South Africa has approximately 1000 hectares of plastic tunnels and 5000 hectares under shade net, mostly producing peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers, but growers are facing rising costs for energy and water.
“Specifically we have a battle with clean potable water so in areas not far from mines the farmers have to invest more in filtration, that in itself is a new thing for South Africa.
“The other thing is electricity. There are farmers now who are switching to renewable energy and farms are looking at more high-tech management systems,” he said.
Although there has been some significant investment by the KwaZulu-Natal government in the Dube Agrizone close to Durban, the area currently stands at only 16 hectares, a tiny percentage of the hectares of poly tunnels and those under shade-net.
Johan believes that sharing information is the key to developing the industry as a whole, and with exhibitors from as far afield as the Netherlands, France and Canada due to attend this year, it’s clear that they can see the potential in South Africa’s horticultural industry.
"Right from the beginning it [the Expo] went very well indeed, beyond our expectations. And both the delegates to the conference were very satisfied with the results and information that they could gather, and did good business. And after all, isn’t that what an expo is for?” concluded Johan.
The Undercover Farming Expo will be hosted at the Saint George Hotel and Conference Centre, conveniently located close to O.R. Tambo Airport, between Pretoria and Johannesburg.
For more information
Undercover Farming Expo
Johan Swiegers
+27 82 882 7023
conference@undercoverfarmingexpo.co.za
www.undercoverfarmingexpo.co.za