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Owen van Rooi. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Owen van Rooi. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

Ready to have a positive impact on the agricultural industry

The future of horticulture
Patricia Coetzee
Crop farmer and small business owner Owen van Rooi is currently pursuing an honours degree in agribusiness after obtaining his degree in horticulture at the Namibian University of Science and Technology (NUST) this year. He officially started his business, ‘Platsand Produce', after he completed his studies and supplies local vendors with fresh produce such as tomatoes, cabbage and spinach, just to name a few.

Van Rooi’s job as owner and operational manager of Platsand Produce involves diverse tasks, with his responsibilities varying from marketing, crop scheduling, employee relations and various administration tasks.

At first he thought that the agricultural side of farming, such as cattle farming, was where his interests lay, but as he grew up, he realised he had green fingers and loved spending time putting them to use.

For this crop farmer, there was no denying his love for crop farming, as he grew up loving the farm and everything that had to do with it.

Tools at hand

According to Van Rooi, farming doesn't necessarily require a tertiary degree to be successful, but having one does help minimise learning through trial and error.

Van Rooi says he would advise anyone aspiring to make a living from farming to take a training course or get a degree or diploma in the field to avoid making so many mistakes along the way as these mistakes are very costly.

“Having that educational background on things like pest control can save you so much money,” he said.

He also added that to be a crop farmer, certain skills and character traits are helpful.

One such character trait is perseverance, because being a crop farmer means making mistakes and learning from them. You need to learn not to give up when things don't go according to plan the first time around.

He added that it is important that, as a crop farmer, you should have problem-solving skills because things almost never go according to plan and you will have to think on your feet.

Another crucial skill to have is time management and organisational skills.

“Be very organised because everything in crop farming works with a time limit,” Van Rooi advised.

He said farming is often associated with being an option for retirement, but he believes that this should be debunked because the opportunities that lie within the farming industry are endless.

Van Rooi said he hopes to help young people realise that farming and agriculture are the future and that it is an industry that should be invested in.

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Allgemeine Zeitung 2024-11-01

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Katima Mulilo: 20° | 37° Rundu: 22° | 37° Eenhana: 21° | 37° Oshakati: 20° | 37° Ruacana: 19° | 37° Tsumeb: 23° | 36° Otjiwarongo: 20° | 36° Omaruru: 18° | 37° Windhoek: 19° | 34° Gobabis: 19° | 36° Henties Bay: 14° | 20° Wind speed: 17km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 08:56, High tide: 03:15, Low Tide: 21:17, High tide: 15:18 Swakopmund: 14° | 15° Wind speed: 15km/h, Wind direction: NW, Low tide: 08:54, High tide: 03:13, Low Tide: 21:15, High tide: 15:16 Walvis Bay: 13° | 20° Wind speed: 18km/h, Wind direction: W, Low tide: 08:54, High tide: 03:12, Low Tide: 21:15, High tide: 15:15 Rehoboth: 18° | 36° Mariental: 20° | 38° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 38° Aranos: 19° | 39° Lüderitz: 15° | 28° Ariamsvlei: 20° | 38° Oranjemund: 14° | 21° Luanda: 25° | 26° Gaborone: 20° | 37° Lubumbashi: 18° | 32° Mbabane: 15° | 35° Maseru: 15° | 32° Antananarivo: 17° | 30° Lilongwe: 21° | 31° Maputo: 20° | 36° Windhoek: 19° | 34° Cape Town: 16° | 24° Durban: 18° | 26° Johannesburg: 19° | 32° Dar es Salaam: 25° | 31° Lusaka: 19° | 31° Harare: 17° | 31° Currency: GBP to NAD 22.76 | EUR to NAD 19.11 | CNY to NAD 2.48 | USD to NAD 17.65 | DZD to NAD 0.13 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.28 | EGP to NAD 0.35 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.65 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3 | RUB to NAD 0.18 | INR to NAD 0.21 | USD to DZD 132.96 | USD to AOA 909.05 | USD to BWP 13.36 | USD to EGP 48.88 | USD to KES 129.2 | USD to NGN 1650.44 | USD to ZAR 17.66 | USD to ZMW 26.78 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index Same 0 | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1867.43 Up +0.66% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 14269.96 Up +0.72% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 30658 Up +0.94% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 734.87/OZ DOWN -0.0043 | Copper US$ 4.34/lb DOWN -0.0022 | Zinc US$ 3 084.50/T UP 0.27% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 73.54/BBP DOWN -0.0123 | Platinum US$ 989.55/OZ DOWN -0.0004 Sport results: Weather: Katima Mulilo: 20° | 37° Rundu: 22° | 37° Eenhana: 21° | 37° Oshakati: 20° | 37° Ruacana: 19° | 37° Tsumeb: 23° | 36° Otjiwarongo: 20° | 36° Omaruru: 18° | 37° Windhoek: 19° | 34° Gobabis: 19° | 36° Henties Bay: 14° | 20° Wind speed: 17km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 08:56, High tide: 03:15, Low Tide: 21:17, High tide: 15:18 Swakopmund: 14° | 15° Wind speed: 15km/h, Wind direction: NW, Low tide: 08:54, High tide: 03:13, Low Tide: 21:15, High tide: 15:16 Walvis Bay: 13° | 20° Wind speed: 18km/h, Wind direction: W, Low tide: 08:54, High tide: 03:12, Low Tide: 21:15, High tide: 15:15 Rehoboth: 18° | 36° Mariental: 20° | 38° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 38° Aranos: 19° | 39° Lüderitz: 15° | 28° Ariamsvlei: 20° | 38° Oranjemund: 14° | 21° Luanda: 25° | 26° Gaborone: 20° | 37° Lubumbashi: 18° | 32° Mbabane: 15° | 35° Maseru: 15° | 32° Antananarivo: 17° | 30° Lilongwe: 21° | 31° Maputo: 20° | 36° Windhoek: 19° | 34° Cape Town: 16° | 24° Durban: 18° | 26° Johannesburg: 19° | 32° Dar es Salaam: 25° | 31° Lusaka: 19° | 31° Harare: 17° | 31° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 22.76 | EUR to NAD 19.11 | CNY to NAD 2.48 | USD to NAD 17.65 | DZD to NAD 0.13 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.28 | EGP to NAD 0.35 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.65 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3 | RUB to NAD 0.18 | INR to NAD 0.21 | USD to DZD 132.96 | USD to AOA 909.05 | USD to BWP 13.36 | USD to EGP 48.88 | USD to KES 129.2 | USD to NGN 1650.44 | USD to ZAR 17.66 | USD to ZMW 26.78 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index Same 0 | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1867.43 Up +0.66% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 14269.96 Up +0.72% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 30658 Up +0.94% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 734.87/OZ DOWN -0.0043 | Copper US$ 4.34/lb DOWN -0.0022 | Zinc US$ 3 084.50/T UP 0.27% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 73.54/BBP DOWN -0.0123 | Platinum US$ 989.55/OZ DOWN -0.0004