No-till and minimum tillage is a green and rosy farming practice and is especially popular in Natal. Farmers need to look at ways to reduce input costs and this offers an excellent solution. As an added bonus, it also helps to regain and preserve the soil’s natural quality.

Farmers and interested parties recently held the No-till Club’s conservation agriculture congress and demonstration day at the ATKV Drakensville resort near Bergville to exchange knowledge and learn more about this sensible practice.

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Egon Zunckel is the Deputy Chairman of the No-till Club and is regarded as a leading no-till farmer in the region. He talked about his challenges and successes while developing his farm at Warden in the Free State.
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In between the lectures, informal discussion sessions were held during which organizations and farmers could be asked anything.
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The No Tillage Club has demonstrated how ground cover material on bare land is much more effective at retaining runoff.
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Agricol provided the seed for several cover crop trials planted at a site at the ATKV Drakensville resort, to demonstrate the benefits of each. Cedara’s Soil Science Division did the spraying and applied fertilizer. Valtrac provided the tractor, no-till planter and the driver.

 

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The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of KwaZulu-Natal’s men at Cedara showed how to make sure that all the poison ends up on the crops by using a portable spray booth with a knapsack sprayer.