Farming for resilience requires a deep dive into the soil

© RegenZAt the recent Mzansi Young Farmers Indaba north of Pretoria, Alex Platt explained to farmers where profitability through improved resilience lies: it's no secret that all emanates from the soil, but what is not yet universal knowledge, says the co-founder of RegenZ, is that a farmer doesn't only feed the visible crop, but a myriad of invisible subterranean organisms with whom plants have evolved complex interdependencies.

Right: Nick Platt, co-founder of RegenZ, applying Seabrix to a trial plot in Pietermaritzburg

"If you consistently, year after year, treat your soil well, better soil health will follow, while input costs will stay the same and yields will increase. That was my whole premise at the indaba on how to make sustainable farming profitable," he says. "We're taking commercial farming knowledge and products and tailoring them to be usable by smallholder farmers who buy smallish quantities."

Yield size is not the only marker of success
Platt's father established Zylem almost thirty years ago to produce biostimulants and liquid fertilisers at a blending facility in Durban. These are sold to commercial farmers through Zylem's distributor, RealIPM, while small-scale farmers can order directly from RegenZ or buy from three depots countrywide, in Pietermaritzburg (Tunnel Quip), Johannesburg (Turfnet), or Cape Town (Nutri Humus).

© ZylemSeabrix, Zylem's flagship product, is a soil biostimulant, not a plant fertiliser

He continues: "Our motto would be to get farmers off all inputs, but realistically, because farming is an extractive process, you need to put back into the soil. Our stance is a healthy balance of synthetics with biologicals. We're encouraging farmers to get synthetic use down to at 50%, perhaps even down to 20% or 30%."

He remarks that farmers often demand to see immediate results and tangible differences to the yield. "We're trying to convey to farmers that it's not always about boosting the yield but about creating a resilient plant and soil life. A plant that recovers better from heat or water stress, or hail – all factors that are becoming increasingly relevant."

RegenZ's flagship product among commercial farmers is Seabrix, a biostimulant made from fish hydrolysate (from South Africa's West Coast), kelp, liquid molasses, and moringa, which in simple terms provides food not to the plant but to soil microbes, which in turn improve the plant's nutrient uptake and endurance. Ten years ago, biostimulants were still on the margins of commercial agriculture, he observes, but studies have proliferated, showing the advantages of feeding soil life intentionally. "Farmers often apply Seabrix straight to the soil before or during planting. It helps soil microbes to quicker spring into action after winter."

Journey of years towards optimal soil health
© RegenZIt's a journey to build soil health, year after year of making soil health-conscious decisions: mulching, using a cover crop, rotating crops, and planting legumes to fix nitrogen and loosen up compacted soils.

Right: Swartland pumpkin farmer Pieter Brand looks approvingly at the result of applied regenerative agricultural principles

Instead of regarding these practices as extra expenditures on the farm, Platt encourages a long game plan that prioritises investment into soil health for long-term returns.

"Some farmers are very aware of the detriment of tilling, but a lot think: how do I prepare my soil for planting if I can't till? We're here to show them how to do that, if that means renting a disc driller for the day of planting, and how to become a more resilient farmer, and more profitable over time."

On large commercial farms, where a hundred-strong herd would be needed to graze a hundred hectares of land, it becomes a cumbersome administrative exercise, but on a small scale, this practice makes a lot of sense to farmers.

"Maybe you've got some livestock, and you can run them through the land at the end of the season," he suggests. "A lot of small-scale farmers have livestock or chickens or pigs, so this is not a foreign concept. Perhaps they don't see it as a regenerative practice, but it is."

True potato seed
RegenZ closely focuses on the farmers, mostly small scale, with whom they work, putting together a fertilization programme after an initial soil analysis.

© Alex Platt | RegenZ
In Mohale's Hoek, Lesotho, RegenZ has introduced Solynta's true potato seeds (HTPS), where it's had a successful first season. Hybrid potatoes are not yet available in South Africa, but trials are ongoing at the University of the Free State.

"It will be well suited because you can plant your potatoes from your seed versus needing a tuber. The benefits of HTPS are transport efficiency and disease-free seed."