Abstract:
The Free State Province has a population of about 2.9 million people (7% of the national
population), growing at 1.5% per annum, with a density of 22 persons per km2. Before
1994, agricultural research and development efforts in South Africa were focused mainly
on commercial farmers, neglecting small-scale farmers to a large extent. The challenge
now lies in redirecting research and development, as well as extension efforts, to include
this new clientele. The areas requiring attention include vegetable gardens in urban and
peri-urban areas, small farmers, community farmers and reserve settlement areas
(Saunderson, 1995:165-165). This study investigates the vegetable farming practices of
small-scale farmers in the Eastem Free State. A questionnaire survey was administered
to 30 randomly selected small-scale vegetable farmers. In addition, trials using carrots
and potatoes were also conducted in two locations (Mpho and Leratong) to assess the
impact of soil compaction on the preparation of seed-beds for vegetable crops.
The demographic information collected indicated that the average age of farmers engaged
in vegetable farming was 53 years. Most of the respondents (21 %) were in the age group
60 to 69 years. Most of the farmers had occupied the land for less than six years. With
regard to the different farming activities described, 58.6% of the farmers had some
experience related to agriculture. Of the farmers, 48% had a qualification lower than grade
seven. The average size of land allocated for vegetable farining was 3 ha. Of the
respondents, 86% planted their vegetable crops in seed-beds, while the rest made no use
of seed-beds. Land resting was practised by 69% of the farmers studied. The majority of
the farmers (41 %) irrigated their vegetable crop once per day. Mulching was not practised
widely by the farmers interviewed. Farmers also indicated that they applied salt to
vegetable seedbeds for moisture retention. Based on this information, soil samples were
collected from non-salted, recently salted and old salted soils and measured for bulk
density and porosity percentage. However, there were no significant differences with
regard to both bulk density and porosity percentage between the three soil types
measured.
There were no Significant differences with regard to carrot length, diameter and mass
between the two locations studied. The carrots from the loosened seedbeds were
significantly longer (1.7 cm) than the carrots from the compacted seed-beds, while the
differences with regard to carrot diameter and mass were not significant. Location as well as compaction had no influence on the mass of the potatoes harvested. In conclusion, this
study shows that farmers need training in soil management and modern vegetable
production techniques.
