Participants at the 2024 SCCS Postgraduate Student Symposium

Postgraduate Students Shine at Annual Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences Symposium!

Another successful year! The annual Postgraduate Students Symposium in the Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, at the University of the Free State was a resounding success. This event continues to be a testament to the dedication and hard work of our students, faculty, and partners, and a highlight of our academic year.

A huge thank you to our external stakeholders - Omnia Holdings, Starke Ayres (Pty) Ltd., and Department of Labour - for their invaluable support in making this symposium possible. Your commitment to fostering research and development in this field is truly commendable.

To the students who bravely presented their groundbreaking research, you were the stars of the show! Your passion, insights, and dedication to your respective fields were inspiring. A special shout out to Ayabonga Sibalekile and Muwanwa Kaylne Tshikovhi, our stand-out presenters.

Demonstration of pecan harvesting 



Pruning of young pecan nut trees 

Pecan nut field trip - HORT 3764

Early on 2 August 2024, 32 students and 2 University of the Free State (UFS) staff members headed towards Hartswater in the Northern Cape for a pecan nut excursion as part of the Horticulture module outcomes.

Upon arrival, students were greeted by Wian Visser (Agronomist at Kynoch Fertilizer and UFS alumni) and his team at Burger Boerdery. The students were then treated to a demonstration of how the harvesting process takes place with specialized machinery.

Hedge pruning of mature pecan trees was also demonstrated using a large mechanical pruner while Hardus du Toit, Senior Technical Officer of the South African Pecan Nut Producers’ Association (SAPPA), demonstrated manual pruning of young pecan trees. The students were able to compare the differences between the two techniques and application thereof.

The last stop was at Pekanhoek, a pecan nut processing and export facility in the area. The students were taught the grading and sorting of pecans. The field trip brought the classroom to life and the Soil, Crop and Climate Science department would like to thank the team at Kynoch Fertilizer and Gesine Coetzer, Senior Lecturer in Horticulture at UFS, who were instrumental in arranging the excursion.

Pictured from left to right: Zweli Mgayo, Gabriel Mokoena, Elias Yokwane, Edwin Nthoba, Tsietsi Madito and Lebo Mokgethi.

C3 Staff receive training on responsible pesticide handling

On Tuesday, 30 July 2024, C3 workers (Tsietsi Madito, Edwin Nthoba, Gabriel Mokoena, and Elias Yokwane) from the Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences (SCCS) underwent training on responsible pesticide handling and use. The training was provided by one of Crop Life South Africa’s ‘Train the Trainer’, Zweli Mgayo. Crop Life SA is the trade association body for agrochemical companies in South Africa serving manufacturers, suppliers and distributors of sustainable crop protection, public health and plant biotechnology solutions.

The training covered guidelines on how to read pesticide labels, safe storage of pesticides on farms, correct fitting of personal protective equipment for pesticide application and safe disposal of pesticide packaging after use. The training provided workers with tangible application examples to assist them in carrying out their duties on the UFS experimental farms and glasshouses located near the Agriculture Building. The workers saw the importance of taking responsibility for their chemical stores to ensure their safety and the safety of students.

At the end of the training session, the workers were provided with certificates of completion (pictured on the left). The SCCS department hopes to continue to empower workers with knowledge and skills relevant to their roles!