BUSINESS
And here’s a buyer
for your spinach crop
G
reen-fingered
smallholders in
Gauteng who want to
grow vegetables commercially,
but who don't want the hassle
of marketing their produce,
now have the opportunity to
grow certain varieties “on
contract” to supply restaurants
and hotels, through a handson marketing (not market)
agent.
For, subject to certain
conditions Hercules van den
From page 11
Berg of Freestyle Farmers'
Market has plenty of capacity
for good quality spinach,
lettuce, butternut and other
pumpkin types and English
cucumber.
Freestyle Farmers Market
works independently of the
municipal market system,
collecting produce from
growers in their own vehicles,
and delivering directly to
customers.
Continued on page 15
RABBITS
a wide variety of green feed,
sides are, however, fitted with a smallholder who grows his
shadecloth curtains which can own vegetables will minimise
be closed in times of weather his input costs, by feeding his
extremes.
animals such usuallyGood record-keeping is
discarded material as outer
another vital facet of a good
leaves of cabbages, caulirabbitry and the Casamassas
flower stems and trimmings,
maintain a full history of each etc.
doe's breeding, number of
Rabbits not only thrive on a
offspring in each litter,
wide variety of food, but they
mortalities etc.
are excellent converters of
Medical requirements are
feed into high-quality, lean
minimised by careful attenprotein. A rabbit, says
tion to hygiene, diet and
Casamassa, will produce 6kg
stress among the animals.
of meat on the same amount
Rabbits, Casamassa enthuses, of feed that a cow consumes
to produce 1kg.
provide almost logarythmic
returns. Starting with no more As part of the average South
than two females and one
African diet, rabbit meat can
male one will, once they have only grow in popularity, says
bred sufficiently, finish up
Casamassa, firstly because of
with an on-going supply of
cost and secondly because of
18kg of rabbit meat monthly, increased availability.
in the form of ten slaughterCurrently, dressed rabbit
weight animals. And this, he
meat is relatively scarce
points out, one will enjoy in
because demand is limited to
perpetuity if one manages
relatively few consumers. As
one's stock correctly.
the price of other proteins,
Scaling this up somewhat, he notably chicken (which most
closely resembles rabbit
points out that a smallholder
meat), increases, rabbit meat
who starts with ten breeding
will become more competidoes and one buck will in
tively priced and therefore
time have to house 250
more readily available, if
rabbits of various ages,
sufficient producers enter the
resulting in about 50 slaughter-weight rabbits a month on market, he says.
an on-going basis.
For more information: The
And because rabbits thrive on Rabbit Lady 072 206-8756
13
www.sasmallholder.co.za