By Dale Hes
Mbombela - The Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) has spent R3 million to help establish South Africa’s first mobile agricultural laboratory that will enable farmers to have their water, soil and animals tested at their doorstep.
The lab was recently launched by non-governmental organisation Mobile Agri Skills Development and Training (MASTD) at the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport outside Mbombela through Seda’s assistance.
"The benefits of the lab are numerous and include bringing conformity assessment support closer to emerging farmers, giving them access to a testing facility that will help them in their farm planning and crop production," said Seda spokesperson Beverley Kgame.
Project manager Kevin Gambaran said the lab, with its cutting edge-range of equipment, is one of the most technologically advanced in the world.
“This is definitely the most advanced agricultural laboratory in the country and we are very proud to launch it after years of hard work,” he said.
Gambaran said in addition to laboratory facilities, the 20-metre Scania truck unit will host a training facility with high-tech electronic equipment and a comprehensive one-stop support centre for small, medium and micro enterprises within the agricultural industry.
Two high-definition television screens on the outside of the truck relay what is going on inside, and all laboratory equipment, bar air conditioners, are run with solar power.
“There is an interactive training room on board and a top-of-the-range computer where research and analysis can be furthered,” Gambaran explained.
MASTD chairman Mathews Phosa spoke well of the project. “Today marks a momentous step forward for MASTD. This revolutionary Mobile Laboratory with its cutting-edge technology will strengthen MASTD’s hand in accelerating the growth of emerging farmers into commercial producers and beyond,” said Phosa, who is the former Premier of Mpumalanga.
The truck is expected to add to MASTD’s fleet of vehicles which already visit projects and deliver seedlings and mechanisation to farmers across the country.
MASTD managing director Lynette Bezuidenhout, who leads a team of 30 fulltime professionals at the NGO, explained that the lab would also be used for educational purposes.
“The plan is also to support rural schools by taking the laboratory unit to them and demonstrating experiments by using the television screens, making students aware of basic agri-science and showing that agriculture is a worthwhile profession,” she said.
Bezuidenhout said more than 300 people were involved in the construction of the laboratory, which was hand-created and custom-made.
Phosa said that such developments were vital to South Africa’s economy due to the dwindling number of commercial farmers in the country.
“Many African and East European countries continue to lure farmers with extremely lucrative contracts. More worrying is the fact that the average age of our commercial farmers is 62. It is clear that the future of food production and rural job creation lies with South Africa’s 2.5 million emerging farmers,” said Phosa.
Phosa added that since MASTD’s inception in 2005, the organisation has been making significant inroads in uplifting emerging farmers through its business incubation system.
“Last year alone, MASTD was instrumental in establishing 286 new SMMEs, creating more than 400 jobs,” said Phosa, adding that the goal would be to establish laboratories in all nine provinces. – SAnews.gov.za
