Agriculture
Academy underway for future grain leaders─── SABRINA DEAN 18:18 Tue, 24 Feb 2015
Bloemfontein - Twenty five dynamic young grain growers gathered at the University of the Free State’s Business School in Bloemfontein this morning (24 February) for the start of the 2015 Syngenta Grain Academy leadership development programme.
The programme, run in partnership with the UFS and Grain SA, is aimed at equipping young commercial growers to face the challenges the agriculture industry faces.
Syngenta’s Ian Mansfield says it is important that the industry can sell itself, upgrade itself and continue learning:
'Syngenta's Ian Mansfield'
UFS head of agricultural economics, Dirk Strydom, meanwhile says the focus is on young people taking agriculture forward through innovation and technology. "These guys are the guys who must see the opportunities, they must see the change, they must take part in the conversations in taking agriculture forward," he says.
Strydom adds that the 25 participants are going to be living the farming of the future. "It's important to keep young agriculturalists up to date with what is happening outside, to challenge them to see things differently and bring in the changes needed to make agriculture sustainable," he says.
Sabrina Dean/OFM News
'Syngenta's Ian Mansfield':
