An investigation of geospatial technologies in precision agriculture: a case study on a citrus orchard in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Nish, Declan Mark
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Geospatial technology , Agricultural innovations , Precision farming South Africa Eastern Cape , Citrus orchard , Citrus fruit industry , Drone aircraft , Remote sensing
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465080 , vital:76571
- Description: Citrus production is an input-intensive farming practice that carries a high cost of production. A multitude of both local and global factors continue to put pressure on farmers to produce enough food for local consumption as well as international exports. Despite these challenges production and exports continue to increase, fighting to meet the growing rise in global demand for citrus (Genis, 2018). Growers are continuously in search of anything that may provide them with the ‘edge’ or an advantage to overcoming some of these challenges (Jupp, 2018). One way in which these issues could be addressed is the use of precision agriculture (PA). Precision agriculture, particularly that of commercial, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based PA, provides growers with solutions to these issues in the form of high quality, near real-time data, and provides access and benefits from technology driven agriculture to growers at all levels (Sishodia et al. 2020). The aim of this research therefore was to investigate the potential of high resolution, multi-spectral UAV, and satellite imagery to help citrus farmers manage their inputs better, save costs and increase their yields in a sustainable manner. Supervised image classification using a support vector machine (SVM) was applied to map and classify a citrus farm in the Eastern Cape. The approach aided the identification of Phytophthora spp in the section of interest and implies that remotely sensed data can be used to detect changes in citrus health. Guidelines for applying geospatial technologies at farm level were developed to provide a framework for enabling growers to enhance data driven farm management strategies. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Geography, 2024
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- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
The Effects of Alcohol and Sunstance Abuse on Productivity in the Sundays River Valley Citrus Industry
- Authors: Fick, Gerard Hendrik
- Date: 2022-04
- Subjects: Substance abuse , Citrus fruit industry , South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/57654 , vital:58191
- Description: COVID-19 has created a new world to conduct business and few industries were fortunate enough to continue to operate as essential services throughout the pandemic. The South African Citrus Industry was one of these industries. During this pandemic, certain amenities were regarded as dangerous and potentially a contributor to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Alcohol was deemed one of these contributors. During the lockdown regulations implemented in March of 2020, the Sundays River Valley Citrus Industry noticed certain interesting developments concerning labour and productivity. Initial review of the effects of alcohol and substance abuse on the productivity of citrus workers, revealed limited research into the broader South African Citrus Industry, with more focus on the Western Cape and related wine farms. The aim of this research study is to identify the impact of alcohol and substance abuse on productivity within the Sundays River Valley Citrus Industry. Specifically focusing on absenteeism, workers injuries on duty and workplace incidents pertaining to disciplinary processes. The research further aims to add a monetary value to the implication of these events on the Sundays River Valley Citrus Industry and the possible management strategies involved to remediate the potential affects thereof. This study uses the phenomenological and case study research approaches focusing on the workplace of the researcher within the Sundays River Valley Citrus Industry. Using qualitative content analysis during the interview process, the themes and findings were evaluated alongside the research questions and was found to be in agreement with the views flowing from the research data. The analysis further revealed that Sundays River Valley Citrus Industry is in need of adequate management strategies due to the seasonal nature of the industry to improve labourer job satisfaction and in turn productivity and efficiency. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Business and Economic science, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-04