2018 marks a new year and fresh start for Sonop Farms, we are very excited for the year and planting season that lies ahead. The first load of our high-quality plant material has already been delivered on the 23^rd of January and our team cannot wait to start this season after all the preparations for this year. The past two to three years brought on a variety of challenges, mainly the weather changes. This forced our technical team to be more innovative. We are doing daily research to ensure that we can produce superior products for our clients. Along with new techniques, we have a new planting schedule. By using our infrastructure more efficiently and making use of greenhouses and water misting systems, we will be able to regulate the heat and minimize the risks that comes with it. We are also very excited to start testing new genetics and will be using some of the genetics that we developed over the past few years through extensive research and trials. This will enable us to adjust our product to perform better in the hard circumstances it grows in. This is a result of an excellent technical and support team who are experts in climate change. To be a first-class farmer today, it’s not just about planting and harvesting; it requires a lot of time, daily research, tests, adjustments and good knowledge. We are proud to say that we have these capabilities in our team. We are blessed to be able to farm in a safe environment, the Namibian Government has an initiative to develop and ensure safety for the farming community and the NAB regulates and controls the importing and exporting of all products. National Horticulture Development Initiative In 2002, the Government of the Republic of Namibia, in partnership with the NAB, embarked on the National Horticulture Development Initiative. The primary objective of Horticulture is to increase local production of fruit and vegetables and to reduce our dependence on imported horticulture fresh produce. Horticulture vision – to stimulate the Namibian Horticulture Sector by providing an enabling environment for quality fresh produce to consumers. The top seven horticulture fresh produce crops in Namibia The top seven horticulture fresh produce crops in Namibia are potatoes, onions, cabbages, carrots, green peppers, tomatoes and sweet potatoes. Sonop is proud to be a supplier of two of the top seven horticulture fresh produce crops in Namibia – pepper and tomato. According to the data collection and forecasts done by the Namibian Agronomic Board, these fresh produce lines could prove to be good earners for producers. The expected production of cabbages stood at 1 600 tons and 1 265 tons for January 2015 and February 2015 respectively, while the actual production and average consumption of this particular commodity was just 58 tons for both months in 2014. While the production and consumption tonnages for cabbage remained comparatively low, about 58 tonnes were imported during the same months of the previous year. The same trends are evident for the production of tomatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes and green peppers in Namibia. For all these commodities, the expected local production in 2015 far exceeds the sourced tonnage from the previous year. During January 2014, locally sourced sweet potatoes stood at just more than five tonnes with the average consumption of this commodity at 30 tons, 60 tonnes needed to be imported. In February 2014, local production rose to approximately 25 tonnes and import declined to approximately 35 tons. For more information please visit NAB’s website: http://www.nab.com.na/controlled-crops/horticulture/market-statistics.php