Question NW160 to the Minister of Agriculture

Reply:

The relationship of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) is defined in terms of a collaboration agreement entered in 2022. This agreement identifies the following main collaborative areas:

• implementation of the agricultural pillar of the bio-economy strategy of DSI through the Agriculture Bio-economy Innovation Partnership Programme (ABIPP);
• plant and animal improvement, including breeding and genome sequencing;
• implementing human capital development;
• biosecurity;
• bio-innovation in support of nutrition security;
• sustainable natural resources management; and
• digital knowledge platforms.

More than 30 initiatives have been implemented under the ABIPP including multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary research in support of the agricultural sector. These initiatives include:

• enterprise development of orange flesh sweet potato;
• honeybush research and development project;
• crop improvement programme for grains and oil seeds;
• soybean food and nutrition programme;
• cape aloe project; and
• other farmer development projects.

DALRRD and DSI, in collaboration with the private sector, are also sponsoring the national biosecurity hub which works jointly work toward ensuring biosecurity threats are identified and dealt with timely and appropriately through:

• pest risk analyses;
• coordinating pest surveillance and pest alert systems;
• biosecurity training; and
• human capital development.

The development of a digital information hub for the collation of pest information in South Africa is another key output of the collaboration between DALRRD and DSI.