Byron Booysen started farming only five years ago and now produces tomatoes and other crops in an undercover system on 1,9ha just outside Kraaifontein near Cape Town. Jeandré van der Walt visited him to find out how he got started, the lessons he has learnt, and the challenges he faces.
Byron Booysen developed a fondness for land and nature while growing up in Burgersdorp in the Eastern Cape, where his family farmed on a small scale.
Five years ago, he decided to turn his interest into a business and applied to the Western Cape Department of Agriculture for funding to start a hydroponic farming operation. He was particularly interested in hydroponics, he says, as this type of farming offered good returns even on limited land.
STRICT CONDITIONS
In December 2014, with the help of the Cape Agency for Sustainable Integrated Development in Rural Areas (Casidra), an initiative of the Western Cape government, four multi-span tunnels were erected on the farm AvonDe-Rust in Kraaifontein near Belville, where Booysen rents land. “This is where everything started for me and my business, Booysen Tunnel Farming.”
He was not simply handed this infrastructure; he received it only after undertaking thorough research and preparing a comprehensive proposal for Casidra. “I also did a lot of reading about hydroponics, attended a few courses and watched YouTube videos.”
TUNNEL OPERATIONS
Booysen’s farming operation comprises the four 486m2 greenhouses, a computerised pumphouse and two reservoirs. Each tunnel houses about 1 000 tomato plants, which yield roughly 40t in a seven-month cycle. This translates into a yield of about 10kg/plant.
He sources his tomato plants from nurseries in the area, but recently started cultivating his own seedlings with great success. The seeds are planted in a seedling mix in plug trays, and sawdust is used as a growing medium in the tunnels.
“I prefer sawdust because of its high water-retention capacity, which helps reduce water usage,” explains Booysen.
To save costs, he uses the growth medium twice by rotating tomatoes with other crops.
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