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29 October 2020 | Story Linda Dhladhla
The national Student Entrepreneurship Week is the best empowerment platform for students aspiring to become entrepreneurs. Students enrolled in higher education institutions need to appreciate more than ever before that employment post-graduation is not a given.  COVID-19 dampened South Africa’s growth prospects to worse levels than those predicted in 2019.  Students must therefore strive to equip themselves with the basics of entrepreneurship, so as to identify solutions to society’s most pressing challenges now, by participating in economic activities while studying. 

These are remarks by Dr Norah Clarke, Director of Universities South Africa’s Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) programme.  In the week leading up to the national Student Entrepreneurship Week (#SEW2020) that commences on Monday 2 November, Dr Clarke explained why students must take entrepreneurial initiatives at their universities seriously in general, and in particular, why they must do their utmost to participate in the week-long #SEW2020 event from 2 to 4 November 2020.

For the first time since this event was established in 2017, the EDHE programme will be hosting #SEW2020 as a combined national and multi-institutional event. Twenty-one institutions will be sharing one common programme that runs from Monday, 2 November and wraps up on Thursday, 5 November.  As was done with the EDHE Lekgotla 2020, the #SEW proceedings will be livestreamed on the Whova app.  

According to Dr Clarke, this enables anyone to see what each of the 21 public universities and 3 technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges will be showcasing – in a rare opportunity never seen before in this particular context.  The opening ceremony of the virtual #SEW2020 will be hosted from the University of the Free State (UFS).
In addition to the morning’s welcome addresses, the day is dedicated to showcasing how the UFS Business School collaborates with the local business and banking sector in driving entrepreneurship for the common good.  A speaker from the Central University of Technology will add a research perspective on entrepreneurship.   To further unravel its entrepreneurship strategy and narrate how academics encourage innovation and support student enterprises, the UFS will showcase how academic support got 11 tangible business projects off the ground.  The audience will also hear first-hand from the studentpreneurs behind these projects how the university assisted them in their respective journeys from ideation through commercialisation to the market. 
 
Participate and engage through the Whova app and the 

More information: www.edhe.co.za

News Archive

UFS teams up with Department of Agriculture and donates latest farming technology to Oppermans
2009-03-09

 
Attending the recent launch of the latest technology that measures the salinity of soil – the EM38 system – during an information day held in Jacobsdal were, from the left, back: Mr Robert Dlomo, a farmer from Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, Prof. Leon van Rensburg, Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences at the UFS, Mr Sugar Ramakarane, head of the Department of Agriculture in the Free State, Dr Motseki Hlatshwayo, national Department of Agriculture, and Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS; front: Mr Robert Smith and Mr Fagan Scheepers from Oppermansgronde, who will be working with the EM38 system in the area.
Photo: Landbouweekblad
UFS teams up with Department of Agriculture and donates latest farming technology to Oppermans

Emerging and commercial farmers of the Oppermans Community in the Northern Cape will now be able to monitor the salinity levels on their farms effectively for the first time.

This is as a result of a donation of the latest technology that measures the salinity of soil – the EM38 system – which the University of the Free State (UFS) is donating to the community.

The unique project was launched by the Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences at the UFS and the Department of Agriculture in the Free State during an information day held at Jacobsdal recently.

The day was attended by members of the Oppermans Community and representatives of the UFS as well as the Department of Agriculture. Mr Sugar Ramakarane, Head of the Department of Agriculture in the Free State, did the welcoming and several academics from the UFS held discussions about various topics related to the salinity levels in soil.

Since the establishment of the Oppermans Community emerging farmers are now for the first time able to accurately monitor the salinity levels on their farms as well as that of irrigation schemes of commercial farms in the area.

“In a region such as the Northern Cape it is very important that the salinity level of soil is monitored properly. As water is administered to crops, salts accumulate in the soil because the roots leave most of the salts in the soil when it transpires. When the salinity of soil increases, the osmotic potential thereof can also increase, which can seriously damage the water intake of crops and can create loss in yield and income,” said Prof. Leon van Rensburg from the Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences at the UFS and leader of the Oppermans Project.

To assist the farming community of Oppermans to apply precision farming and to measure the salinity level of soil more accurately the latest technology that measures salinity in soil – the EM38 – will be donated to the community. Although the system is used throughout the world, the UFS is the only tertiary institution in the country that owns the latest version of this system.

“We are also training two persons from the Oppermans Community as technicians that will monitor the use of the system. The advantage of the donation of the system for the university is that we can gather data that can be used for research purposes by our Master’s and Doctoral students. We also want to see if water-table heights can be measured with this system,” said Prof. Van Rensburg.

According to him the system has several advantages for the community’s emerging farmers. “For the first time the salinity level of soil can now be measured accurately, salt maps can be drawn up, we can advise farmers about the corrections that need to be made and salinity management plans can be compiled,” he said.

The system is very accurate as it takes measurements every 200 mm while it is pulled by a four-wheel motorbike. The readings provide the distribution of salts up to a soil depth of 1 500 mm. “In the past the measuring of salinity levels was time-consuming and the cost thereof was R90 for one sample. The new system is more cost-effective,” stated Prof. Van Rensburg.

The instruments will be handed over to the African Spirit Group of the Oppermans Community, who will then become the owners. The service to farmers will then be managed by an operational group consisting of people from the Oppermans Community, a postgraduate student who can compile salinity maps and Prof. Van Rensburg, who will act as project leader and advisor.

The system will also be made available to farmers at the Riet River and Vaalharts Schemes.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za  
9 March 2009
 

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