Herb farmer spices up his business with value-adding

Basil Williams, the managing director of Herbal View Hydroponics, cultivates 3t of various herbs per month on just 1ha of land. Recently, he also tapped into the enormous potential of value-adding. Jeandré van der Walt visited him on his farm in Simondium, near Paarl.

- Jeandre van der Walt

Just under 20 years ago, Basil Williams began dabbling in herbs under shade netting in his mother’s backyard at Kylemore in the Western Cape.

“At that stage, I was working on fynbos at the Agricultural Research Council in Stellenbosch. That’s where my love for plants started,” he recalls.

In 2007, he received a grant from the Western Cape Department of Agriculture to expand production near Pniel. The following year, however, he suffered a setback when his structures were damaged by wind. Undeterred, he pressed on, and his persistence paid off: in 2012, he received help from the state’s Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme, and was able to expand Herbal View Hydroponics and slowly start improving his business.

Today, his farming enterprise is far removed from the shade netting in his mother’s backyard. He operates the business on 1ha of rented farmland at Donkerhoek Farm in Simondium, cultivating herbs in six plastic tunnels, under shade netting, and in open fields.

BUSINESS OPERATIONS

Each tunnel houses a dense population of about 5 000 herb plants. The average interior temperature is between 22°C and 25°C in summer, and about 22°C in winter.

Williams grows coriander, rocket, mint, chives, thyme, origanum and rosemary, as well as garlic, baby spinach and micro herbs.

He uses organically certified pesticides from Agro Organics, and can therefore spray and harvest on the same day, if required. He also uses a natural insect spray with ingredients such as garlic, chilli and dishwashing liquid, which kills and repels insects.

According to Williams, he does not have significant problems with pests and disease, but whitefly is sometimes a challenge due to the high humidity in the tunnels. He uses a spray formulated from a citrus extract to control this pest and deter it from attacking his plants.