Antonius - Horticulture

About Antonius

I studied agriculture at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa in 1984 and completing my M.Sc Agric. in 1998. . My love for "Controlled Environmental Agriculture" (CEA), started in my third year when I was exposed to the Welgevallen Research Station. There Prof. P.C.Maree showed us what hydroponics and vegetable farming consisted of. It was awesome. There were no large tractors involved, no dusty fields, no uncontrollable storms to destroy your crop (well that is what I thought). Since then I put hydroponics and other aspects of horticulture to much better use, not just farming. We solved pollution problems by cleaning mines effluent with hydroponics and permaculture. They were used to remove toxic metals to produce clean water (which we sold and make more money of than the produce). What I learned from 1987 I tried to compile in this website and I hope it is from some value to the serious commercial farmer that wants to take the journey into Commercial Farming.

Life cycle of a product
Gallery
Life cycle of a product

Marketing

Life cycle of a product

By Antonius|2017-03-06T08:32:50+00:00May 9, 2016|Marketing|

The life cycle of a product has four distinctive stages; Introduction, growth, maturity and decline. During each of these stages the marketing costs of promoting the product declines (see Figure below). This is because more and more people start to know the name of the product. Each phase of the [...]

Horticultural sectors
Gallery
Horticultural sectors

Marketing

Horticultural sectors

By Antonius|2017-03-06T08:28:59+00:00May 9, 2016|Marketing|

The horticultural industry is a complicated network of intensive businesses that all seek to obtain a slice of the horticultural pie. The South African agricultural business sector is highly competitive and diversified. A simple graphical layout of the businesses that play a significant role in the horticultural industry is presented [...]

Fresh produce marketing
Gallery
Fresh produce marketing

Marketing

Fresh produce marketing

By Antonius|2016-09-23T12:53:08+00:00May 9, 2016|Marketing|

Marketing of the final product is a complex dynamic as it evolves over time. Not all buyers will stay in business and most of them will change their buying patterns to suit their own market needs. So many growers have told me that growing is easy, it is the marketing [...]

Field grown tomatoes – the basics
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Field grown tomatoes – the basics

Tomatoes

Field grown tomatoes – the basics

By Antonius|2024-12-19T15:32:57+00:00May 6, 2016|Tomatoes|

The common tomato or scientifically classified as Solanaceae Lycopersicon lycopersicum (L) Karst. ex Farw. is one of the most popular vegetables planted both by commercial farmers, small scale farmers and home gardeners. It is actually a pleasure to grow tomatoes as there are so many varieties available today that marketing [...]