Levy for soya beans allows access to new cultivars and technology

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According to SANSOR, 80% of soya bean plantings are planted with farm-saved seed. Although legal, this prevents seed companies from being compensated for research and development of new technology and cultivars, thus preventing improved soya bean seed and technology from entering the local market.

The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Senzeni Zokwana approved a statutory levy on soya beans on 22 June 2018, according to which seed companies can be compensated for their performance in the soya bean seed market. The collected levy will be paid to seed companies according to their market share.

The breeding and technology levy on soya beans has been approved for two years with effect from 1 March 2019. The levy is R65 per tonne for the first year and R80 per tonne for the second year. These values are calculated at 1,2% of the previous marketing year’s average soya bean price and will be payable when producers sell their soya beans.

Administering seed levies

The soya bean levy will be administered by the South African Cultivar and Technology Agency (SACTA) and paid to seed companies according to their market share. SACTA is a non-profit company established to administer seed levies for all open-pollinated crops. Levies on wheat and barley for this purpose have already been collected and paid by SACTA for a second year.

"Grain SA views the approval and implementation of this soya bean breeding and technology levy as a major breakthrough," said De Villiers. "This will give our producers access to the latest cultivars and technology in order to compete with other countries. There is technology available that has the potential to increase producers’ yields with more than 10% immediately. This technology would not have been available to South Africa if these types of funding structures were not created. It is therefore important to note that this statutory levy is a compulsory levy, and the cooperation of the entire soya bean industry is called upon."