Blog
Blog
Read the latest Starke Ayres Seed News magazine
Beans | 14 December 2022
Scabby beans: a new challenge on the Highveld
During the past two rainy seasons, a relatively unknown bean disease has become prevalent in green bean production fields in the Highveld regions of Mpumalanga and Gauteng. Read More on this
Research | 12 December 2022
It's in our DNA part 3: using DNA markers in the breeding process
The Nobel Prize-winning discovery and invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the mid-1980s has allowed biologists to design very specific DNA markers to assess the ... Read More on this
Pumpkins | 7 December 2022
Giant pumpkin festival 2022
The Giant Pumpkin Festival is an annual event in Heidelberg, Western Cape. Since its start in 2008, the festival has revolved around generating support for the local community. ... Read More on this
Pepper | 29 November 2022
Duke: One steadfast pepper
In this day and age, with the practice of monoculture, farmers enjoy easy crop production, fertilisation and pest control management. Read More on this
Onions | 22 November 2022
Irati onion has the bit between its teeth in Zimbabwe
With Irati’s huge potential yields, limiting factors will not be in the growing but in the harvesting, storage and marketing of the crop. Read More on this
Onions | 15 November 2022
Quality onions for the local market all year round: challenges and opportunities for Zambian farmers
The traditional onion planting season in Zambia for commercial hybrids is between the end of February and the end of March, although we do see earlier and later planti... Read More on this
Lettuce | 7 November 2022
High-density mechanical harvesting - the future of lettuce production?
With the demand for healthy, leafy greens on the rise and consumers becoming more health conscious, growing short-cycle crops such as speciality lettuce can become challenging. Read More on this
Lettuce | 2 November 2022
L670 punches back against Fusarium in KwaZulu-Natal
L670 impressed growers, with its uniformity and ideal head and frame size for their market. L670 is attractive for the local KwaZulu-Natal market owing to its size, which optima... Read More on this
Butternut | 26 October 2022
Melora Butternut: A perfect match for any KZN market
This season Melora – a variety perfect in size and that produces excellent yields – was planted with great success in KwaZulu-Natal. Read More on this
Cabbage | 17 October 2022
Lunaria: the all-new, high-performing summer cabbage
Lunaria has been trialled in Gauteng, the North West, Limpopo, the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal areas as C 1314, and has performed very well against opposition varieties. Read More on this
Brassica | 10 October 2022
Growing brassicas in adverse conditions
Owing to the rapid increase in horticulture yields in Zimbabwe, there is now periodic saturation in local markets. Charter Seeds has advised farmers to target more profitable ou... Read More on this
Cauliflower | 3 October 2022
Update on Kamino, the new, superior-quality summer cauliflower
Great news! Commercial Kamino cauliflower seed will be available from early July 2022. Read More on this
Uganda | 27 September 2022
Starke Ayres going from strength to strength in Uganda
It was in 1877 when Starke Ayres began its first step towards a journey of more than a thousand miles. Over the years, it has grown to command a significant and formidable distr... Read More on this
Our History | 19 September 2022
Starke Ayres: 145 years of growing Africa
Not many vegetable-seed supplier companies can boast that their heritage has been 100% rooted in South African soil for more than 100 years. That’s quite an accomplishment for S... Read More on this
Butternut | 13 September 2022
Butternut Carmela scores a massive plus in Southern Province, Zambia
The butternut hybrid Carmela has impressed small-scale farmers in the Monze district of Southern Province, an area selected as part of Starke Ayres Zambia’s pilot project to acc... Read More on this
Sweet Corn | 6 September 2022
New sweetcorn hybrid developed for Chile
Starke Ayres has been developing the hybrid sweetcorn market in Chile through Semillas Latinoamericanas for the past few years with great success. Read More on this
Cabbage | 29 August 2022
Kilimo F1 hybrid success story at Kinangop, Kenya
Joseph Chege and his wife have been farming for more than 10 years at Kwa Haraka in Kinangop, Kenya. He concentrates on cabbage farming, which is a source of livelihood for his ... Read More on this
Pepper | 23 August 2022
Capsicum farming in Thika, Kenya
Capsicum farming continues to excite key farmers. California Wonder was initially the most dominant variety, but progressive farmers have embraced hybrid varietie... Read More on this
Onions | 15 August 2022
Onion Dominator popular in Loitokitok, Kenya
Dominator has become very popular owing to its higher resistance to purple blotch which is a very common onion disease in Loitokitok. Read More on this
Onions | 8 August 2022
Onion Yakuti making an impact in Pandamatenga
Farmer Louis Mulder of Pandamenga, Botswana, was allotted 250 000 onion Yakuti seeds as a trial and planted them on 15 June 2021. Read More on this
Onions | 2 August 2022
Botswana: proprietary onion varieties continue to excel
At Silver Horizons in Botswana’s Ghanzi District, Irati has been planted over the past few seasons with great success. Read More on this
Onions | 25 July 2022
Onion Veronica is a competitive product in Namibian sellers' market
Veronica was planted in northeastern Namibia (approximately 30km from Grootfontein) alongside other Starke Ayres and opposition varieties on 2 March 2021. Read More on this
Onions | 19 July 2022
Good yields achieved with onion Askari in Namibia
Starke Ayres’ Onion Askari was planted in many parts of Namibia the past season among other Starke Ayres and opposition varieties. Read More on this
International | 12 July 2022