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The 29 October issue of the magazine takes a look at the current onion prices. Erasmus says that the flooding of the market with onions since the start of October, has lowered prices significantly. She adds that this can adversely affect many growers of this commodity.

According to an onion producer in Barkley West the Northern Cape, Louis de Kock, owner of Wildeklawer, the current onion prices were unsustainable and production costs have escalated over the past year.

He explains the minimum wage was up by 16%, electricity prices increased by 15%, fertilizer costs are up by between 35% and 40% and fuel prices are now surging to a 28% increase, which is before a very high increase that is expected in November this year. With all of these input cost increases, the current onion prices make it almost impossible for farmers to cover the cost of production.

Another article takes a look at a new sub-population of new micro frogs that were discovered in the Western Cape’s Nuwejaars wetlands' special management area. Erasmus says that conservationists have expressed great excitement about this discovery.

Furthermore, news from the sugar industry is that leaders in this industry say that South Africa’s terminally ill sugar cane industry desperately needed the suggestion in the sugar cane value-chain masterplan to be implemented as soon as possible. This included plans around local procurement and also getting South Africa’s biofuel industry off the ground. Erasmus says that the industry needed this in response to the health promotion levy, or the sugar tax, which during its first year of implementation resulted in about 250 000 tons of sugar that would have been sold to the beverage sector being lost. This has resulted in the industry losing revenue of roughly R1,2 billion.

Also, this issue looks at the possible causes of wildfires that have wreaked destruction in the North West, Northern Cape, and Free State.

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