SA agriculture told to seize the day and sow AfCTA opportunities
By Given Majola
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DURBAN - THE SOUTH African agricultural sector was urged by the government to seize opportunities and sow growth provided by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which started at the beginning of the year.
The new market, created under the AfCFTA agreement, is estimated to be as large as 1.3 billion people across Africa, with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $3.4 trillion (R48trl).
Sphamandla Mazibuko, of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development (DALRRD) International Trade directorate, said the potential trade opportunities the AfCFTA would bring for the agriculture sector included breaking strong intra-regional FTA trade as South Africa’s exports were currently concentrated in Southern Africa.
ARC-TSC aids in keeping the yellow dragon at bay in citrus orchards
Citrus Huanglongbing, better known as HLB, is currently regarded as the most destructive disease of citrus, having caused the near-collapse of the Florida citrus industry over the last decade. This disease, which was first described from China, gives the appearance of a yellow dragon being draped over citrus trees, due the mottling symptom associated with it.
The causal bacterial agent of HLB, ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ (Las), and its vector Diaphorina citri, has to date not yet been reported from commercial citrus in South Africa. HLB has however been identified from Asia, the Americas, Mauritius, Reunion Island and two African countries, i. e. Ethiopia and Kenya.