Minister Dipuo Peters’s announcement over the weekend regarding the obligatory blending of biofuel in the future is a positive step in the right direction. This is according to Grain SA, in a statement.

The organization welcomed and congratulated the minister’s announcement and says Grain SA has spent many long and hard hours in planning to assist Government to make a success of this initiative.

According to Grain SA, farmers, especially new Black farmers, were trained and funds were recruited to identify the best suited cultivars on the market for ethanol from sorghum.

Grain SA says the record prices of soya beans will also now encourage farmers to plant more in the coming seasons for biofuel purposes. They did however, urged the minister to determine the exact date at which the regulations will come into effect.

Grain SA says it is very important for the private sector, that the Minister announces the implementation date and administrative prices of the biofuels as soon as possible, as very little can be done before that is confirmed.

Statement supplied