The MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Ms Joy Motshoga, acknowledged the role of the youth within the agricultural sector during the recent Aspirant Young Farmers of the Year awards at The Ranch hotel outside Polokwane.

"Agriculture is another way of combating poverty in our communities and is also playing an important role in economic development,” she said. She added that the competition wants to encourage young people to get involved in agriculture.

According to Motshoga, there is a view that agriculture is for the aged and not for the youth, who opt for white-collar jobs. “There is a lot of money in agriculture and we are trying to lure our youth into this field. This is a succession plan, because the aged pass on and we might be left with no food producers. There would be no food security, so we are planning in time for the future,” she said.

The best young farmer in the national export market is Julius Maela of Waterberg, who received R150 000. The best secondary school in agriculture, Rekoba High, won R80 00. The best primary school in agriculture is Olifansdrift Primary in the Waterberg district, while Tswarelao Masutha of Giyani won the category of top house producer. Bakotudi Primary won the division for top informal market and they received R80 000.