Biosecurity breaches are a significant risk to South Africa's agricultural growth agenda

Published 2023년 11월 6일

Tridge summary

South Africa's biosecurity system is facing weaknesses, leading to outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease, African Swine Fever, and Avian Influenza in the country's livestock and poultry industry. These outbreaks have had a significant impact on exports and the financial fortunes of farmers in the industry. Improving biosecurity measures, repairing international fences, and implementing recommendations from the Biosecurity Task Team report are essential to address these challenges and protect the agriculture sector, which accounts for a significant portion of the country's gross value added.

The weather outlook for the 2023/24 summer crop season in South Africa looks promising, with above-normal rainfall predicted for the northeastern regions and healthy soil moisture levels across most regions of the country. This could lead to better yields and conditions for crop growth. The positive rainfall prospects have also encouraged farmers to increase their planting intentions for the season, indicating optimism in the agricultural sector.

In the coming week, important updates include the release of the US Crop Progress Report and US grains and oilseeds export sales by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In South Africa, the weekly Grains and Oilseeds Producer Deliveries data and Grains and Oilseeds Trade data will be published by SAGIS. These reports provide insights into crop progress, deliveries, and exports in both countries.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

One aspect that remains a major challenge for the domestic animal farming sector and has been raised by our members in various engagements for some time is the weaknesses in South Africa's biosecurity system. Admittedly, biosecurity breaches are not uniquely South African and have become a significant challenge globally. We frequently hear of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in cattle, African Swine Fever in pigs and Avian Influenza in poultry worldwide. However, very few countries have had to deal with the scale of these disease outbreaks almost simultaneously as South Africa has had to do.In 2022, six of our nine provinces reported MFD outbreaks. The conditions haven't changed much. In fact, on November 4 this year, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) announced "a suspicion of an outbreak of foot–and–mouth disease (FMD) in cattle in Ramatlabama under the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality in North West Province." The DALRRD added, "At ...

Source: Farmingportal