Blog
Blog
Read the latest Starke Ayres Seed News magazine
Onions | 12 June 2023
Aldina onion achieves impressive yields in Koue Bokkeveld, Sandveld
Aldina* is a new medium-early, intermediate F1 hybrid onion variety from Starke Ayres, which again set high expectations last season. Read More on this
Zambia | 1 June 2023
A tale of Starke Ayres excellence at the 28th Jinja National Agricultural Show
After two years of Covid-19 around the world and several months of restricted movements and lockdowns in Uganda, farming communities were elated to attend the National Agricultural Show in August 2022. Read More on this
Broccoli | 1 June 2023
Gongga: tougher than the rest
Gongga* is a new broccoli variety recently introduced to the South African market. Withstanding the temperature fluctuations and weekly rain of KwaZulu-Natal’s past summer season and yielding exceptional crops under the circumstances, as it did, is something special. Read More on this
Pepper | 17 May 2023
Komatipoort pepper field day is sweet
Starke Ayres hosted a pepper field day at JF Steyn Boerdery in Komatipoort in August 2022, at which the Starke Ayres sweet pepper range was showcased to farmers and industry roleplayers. Read More on this
Cabbage | 10 May 2023
Kilimo F1 hybrid cabbage embraced in Mount Kenya Region
Teresa Wambugu, the regional agronomist of Starke Ayres, shared samples of Kilimo, an F1 hybrid cabbage, with farmers in the Kagochi, Mbiriri and Mutaga areas in the Mount Kenya Region in Kenya. Read More on this
Beans | 2 May 2023
STAR 2001 still a champion in KwaZulu-Natal
Growers in KwaZulu-Natal experienced an amazing season with the tried and trusted green bean, STAR 2001. Read More on this
Onions | 18 April 2023
New bunching onion variety Velocity promises good returns
Starke Ayres has released Velocity, a new bunching onion variety. Velocity has been widely trialled as OB 092 and will be familiar to some producers. Read More on this
Herbs | 11 April 2023
American Long and Moroccan: perfect coriander varieties for summer
When summer is in full swing, it is important to make the right variety decision when planting coriander, especially in sub-tropical areas. Read More on this
Cauliflower | 3 April 2023
Spacedream - a new winter cauliflower
Spacedream* is the latest addition to our winter cauliflower range and has produced outstanding results when transplanted from February through to June. Read More on this
Zimbabwe | 22 February 2023
STAR 9009 tomato: the green machine
The Green Machine roars on. This time it enabled farmer Bright Masigo, of Range Junita Farm near Gweru, to buy another machine: a dark blue Nissan Sylphy. Read More on this
Tomato | 16 February 2023
The 'game changers' for tomato growers in Kenya: new hybrids from Starke Ayres
Tomato farmers in Kenya have periodically experienced losses due to tomato spotted wilt virus and tomato yellow leaf curl virus. Read More on this
Tomato | 14 February 2023
Renka, a perfect fit for Namibian tomato growers
Renka has shown its ability to be one of the best indeterminate round tomatoes in Namibia. Read More on this
Sweet Melons | 24 January 2023
Cantaloupe melons for summer season production
Starke Ayres has a full range of long shelf-life cantaloupe varieties that are suitable for spring and summer season production. These varieties were selected for their high fruit quality and preferred fruit size, as well as high yield. Read More on this
Tomato | 17 January 2023
New tomato Tabitha* - fruit set, when you need it most
Tomato Tabitha (BR 5911) F1 hybrid is a new indeterminate, round tomato variety that has done very well in open-field production trials on the West Coast of the Western Cape. Read More on this
Beans | 14 December 2022
Baby vegetables are growing up in Eswatini
“Seeds of success” has special relevance to baby vegetable producers in Eswatini. Read More on this
Gem Squash | 14 December 2022
Pinnacle remains a lasting gem
The Pinnacle gem squash first appeared on the South African variety list in 2014, and it continues to produce outstanding results. Read More on this
Tomato | 14 December 2022
Tuta Absoluta undermines tomato production
Tuta absoluta, the tomato leafminer moth, has become an increasingly important pest in South Africa since 2016, undermining tomato production. Farmers have suffered serious yield losses, and increased expenditure in their attempts to control the pest. Read More on this
Beans | 14 December 2022
Scabby beans: a new challenge on the Highveld
During the past two rainy seasons, a relatively unknown bean disease has become prevalent in green bean production fields in the Highveld regions of Mpumalanga and Gauteng. Read More on this
Research | 12 December 2022
It's in our DNA part 3: using DNA markers in the breeding process
The Nobel Prize-winning discovery and invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the mid-1980s has allowed biologists to design very specific DNA markers to assess the presence or absence of certain genes. Read More on this
Pumpkins | 7 December 2022
Giant pumpkin festival 2022
The Giant Pumpkin Festival is an annual event in Heidelberg, Western Cape. Since its start in 2008, the festival has revolved around generating support for the local community. Starke Ayres is privileged to have been one of the festival’s main sponsors. Read More on this
Pepper | 29 November 2022
Duke: One steadfast pepper
In this day and age, with the practice of monoculture, farmers enjoy easy crop production, fertilisation and pest control management. Read More on this
Onions | 22 November 2022
Irati onion has the bit between its teeth in Zimbabwe
With Irati’s huge potential yields, limiting factors will not be in the growing but in the harvesting, storage and marketing of the crop. Read More on this
Onions | 15 November 2022
Quality onions for the local market all year round: challenges and opportunities for Zambian farmers
The traditional onion planting season in Zambia for commercial hybrids is between the end of February and the end of March, although we do see earlier and later plantings. Read More on this
Lettuce | 7 November 2022