The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development MEC Hon. Mrs Thembeni KaMadlopha-Mthethwa and uMhlathuze Municipality Mayor Ngezwa together with the officials of the Department, attended the Annual Agricultural Research Progress Report Summit 2024 on Friday, 27 September 2024.

The Annual Research Progress Report event is about communicating research findings generated out of the experiments conducted by researchers in the six research stations and by the institutions of higher learning such as universities.  It must be noted that agriculture is a science. Therefore, agricultural-related activities and decisions require a scientific basis. The province of KwaZulu-Natal is glad to host such an event in the month of September, prior to the planting season launch. The information shared in this summit by the researchers will assist the agricultural sector in making informed decisions in farming practices. There is no doubt that farmer support and agricultural industry is going to improve as the two-day event shows to revive the link between research, extension and farmers.

During the Extension Summit last month, a lot of success stories were shared, showing effective extension methodology used to equip farmers to practice best farming. However, it has been noticed that continuous generation of information through research is key to the success of the farmers. Therefore, research investment in a form of knowledge and technology development is important for ERP to be effective.