ESDF worked with the Bergville Department of Agriculture within 5 areas of the Okhahlamba Municipality to plant 68 hectares of soybeans.  For the majority of the farmers it was the first time that they planted soy. ESDF assisted with the training and sourcing of the seed, inoculants, weed control, pest and fungi control products. The farmers are all situated in different areas thus ESDF proceeded to buy the planting materials in bulk and distributing the smaller quantities to all the individual farmers. The Department of Agriculture supplied the diesel, equipment (where possible) and paid for the drivers of the tractors. The co-op managed to source some of the seed and all of the required fertilizer.

Amaswazi Co-op (15 members)
Amaswazi Area 
18 Hectares (One Plot)
Carol Kubone – Department of Agriculture
John Killian – Local Commercial Farmer

The large quantities of plots that had to be planted made it very difficult to manage them and a few of the plots were not well maintained. It was impossible to combine the crop with a harvester as the roads leading to the plots are too narrow to access with a harvester. The plots were harvested by hand and by using a Sugarbean thresher.  Although the thresher worked well, there was some loss of the crop as there was only one thresher between all the plots. The farmers managed to produce 1, 1 ton/hectare (33 tons). ESDF will assist the farmers during the 2018/2019 season

Shortly after preparing 30 hectares of land for planting, the Amaswazi Co-op encountered some
problems with other Co-ops farming on the same farm. They managed to source another piece of
land but this piece of land was overgrown and not prepared for soy planting due to the short lead
time in securing the land. John Killian, a local commercial farmer, assisted with the planting of the
soy even though there was still a fair amount of green material on the land. As it was already the
17th of December 2017, 

we were forced to proceed with planting and were unable to wait for the weeds to die after spaying. The Co-op proceeded with the rest of the planting and maintained the Soy land. John Killian assisted with the combining of the soy. Even though the Soy was planted late in the season, it yielded 1.64 ton/hectare (28 tons) of soy. ESDF will assist the Co-op to plant again in the 2018/2019 season.

Emmaus Area
30 Hectares (26 Plots between 0.5 – 1.1 hectare) 
Omega Kubone – Department of Agriculture

The large quantities of plots that had to be planted made it very difficult to manage them and a few of the plots were not well maintained. It was impossible to combine the crop with a harvester as the roads leading to the plots are too narrow to access with a harvester. The plots were harvested by hand and by using a Sugarbean thresher.  Although the thresher worked well, there was some loss of the crop as there was only one thresher between all the plots. The farmers managed to produce 1, 1 ton/hectare (33 tons). ESDF will assist the farmers during the 2018/2019 season

Sandlwane Area 
5 Hectares (1 Plot) 
Xolani Funde – Department of Education 

This plot yielded a very small crop. The germination of the Soy was very poor as the seed were planted to deep due to an incorrect planter being used. The planter was not suitable for soy. ESDF will assist the Co-op during the 2018/2019 season to ensure that the right planter is used.

Moyeni Area 
2 Hectares (1 Plot) 
Siya Bonga – Department of Agriculture

The Co-op planted 5 Hectares but had hale damage to the Soy twice.  Unfortunately the farmers had no insurance on the crop; a common problem under small scale farmers. The farmers managed to produce 0.86 ton on the 2 hectares. ESDF will assist the Co-op with planting during the 2018/2019 season. 

Zwelisha Area
10 Hectares
Sthembile Ndando – Department of Agriculture

The soil preparation on 5 Hectares was good and they managed to produce an average crop. The soil preparation on the other 5 Hectares was poor, resulting in poor germination. 7.4 Tons were harvested on the 10 hectares. ESDF will assist the Co-op with planting during the 2018/2019 season.

ESDF assisted 3 farmers to plant Soy in 3 areas. 
Thulani Mbele (2nd year planting) 
Kestell/Harrismith area 
30 Hectares on different plots

Unfortunately Mr  Mbele experienced hale damage on some of his plots resulting in a 1 ton/hectare harvest. A harvest of 2 ton/hectare was harvested on the plots that were not damaged by hale. Mr Mbele uses his own combine. ESDF will assist Mr Mbele during the 2018/2019 planting season. 

Maswazini Area 
17 Hectares on different plots.

Mr Nkosi is the manager of the local agriculture office promoting soy planting.  Mr Nkosi’s had a successful season even though he experienced hale damage on his crop. He managed to produce an average crop of 1.2 ton per hectares. ESDF will assist Mr Nkosi during the 2018/2019 planting season. 

Dukuza Area 
17 Hectares on one plot 

During the previous year’s ESDF worked with Mr Musa Dlalisa, Mr Sandile Dlalisa’s father. Mr Sandile Dlalisa took over the farming business from his father and this is his 1st year planting solo. Even though Mr Sandile Dlalisa is currently employed at the Department of Agriculture in Pietermaritzburg, it is his goal to evolve into a full time farmer. Mr Sandile Dlalisa has a diploma in agriculture. Mr Sandile Dalisa experienced hale damage on 2 hectares. He managed to produce a crop of 31 tons on 15 hectares, an average of 2.03 ton per hectares. ESDF will assist Mr Dlaliza during the 2018/2019 planting season.