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BL Premium reports that farmers are turning to technology to improve productivity, reduce costs and keep their enterprises afloat during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This after Agri SA warned recently that the national minimum wage of R21.69 per hour that came into effect on 1 March could result in the loss of more than 4,000 jobs. The sector is considered one of the beacons of the economy as it contributes 3% to GDP and is responsible for 900,000 jobs. Commercial farmers were unhappy that the minimum wage had increased 16% from R18.68 an hour to match the broader national minimum wage of R21.69, which is up 4.5% from 2020. Emerging farmers welcomed the increase, saying it was long overdue as farm labourers contributed immensely to the growth of the sector and towards SA’s food security. But, disgruntled farmers said they would turn to modern technology, precision farming, and consider mechanisation to reduce operational and labour costs. The technology farmers are using includes GPS-guided tractors, drones, apps and biological technology such as genetically modified organism seeds. Ken Treloar of agri-tech company Aerobotics repiorted that farmers “are coming to us to ask for assistance on precision farming, for a host of reasons. They want to digitise their farming operations, do data capturing, and monitor return on investment.” Agri SA’s Christo van der Rheede commented: “Farmers have to ensure a quality product and higher yields, so they are forced to use all kinds of technologies to ensure profitability and quality products. If labour becomes too expensive and has an impact on profitability and on yield, then farmers have no other option but to mechanise and use technology on their farms.”
Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
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