RS Components, a global omni-channel provider of industrial and electronic products and solutions, will be joining hundreds of exhibitors at this year’s NAMPO Harvest Day in Bothaville.
Regarded as the largest agricultural exhibition of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, the highly renowned NAMPO Harvest Day sees thousands of visitors’ flock to the Free State’s Bothaville to gain first-hand insights on the latest advancements in technology, equipment, and tools to benefit the agricultural industry in South Africa. The event took a two-year hiatus between 2020-2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year to keep in line with COVID-19 regulations the event will take place over five days as opposed to four to accommodate the restricted number of daily visitors to the show.
The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) reported that over the past two years, South Africa’s agriculture sector had been one of the very few top performers, contributing positively to the country’s economy. According to BFAP, in the past 24 months, agriculture was one of only four sectors of the economy to register improved growth, exporting $10.3 billion of agricultural products in 2020 and a record high of $12.4 billion in 2021. During 2020, the agriculture sector had grown by 13.4% and in 2021 the agriculture sector grew at a rate of 8.3%, second only to the mining sector, which achieved growth of 11.8%. The NAMPO Harvest Day is a platform to network with the agricultural industry’s top role players creating an opportunity for conversation and dialogue while also allowing the public and other role players to experience commercial agriculture and food safety and security in action.
Grain SA, the organisers of the event, received several new applications for exhibition space for the 54th 2022 NAMPO Harvest Day. Dr Pieter Taljaard, CEO of Grain SA said Grain SA was committed to implementing appropriate and necessary measures and action plans in relation to the requirements of Government to host this event for exhibitors new and old as well as visitors alike. “The health and safety of visitors, exhibitors, staff, sponsors and the entire agricultural community during the NAMPO Harvest Day remain paramount and the organisation will be further guided by current best practice to ensure all appropriate and required health and safety checks are in place facilitating the hosting of a successful and valuable event to all involved,” he said.
He also added that the Harvest Day will provide a much-needed injection to the local economy after its two-year hiatus, with many small business owners relying heavily on the income made possible because of this agricultural platform. “Furthermore, the economic importance of NAMPO to the corporate, medium, and small businesses from all over South Africa participating in the show cannot be underestimated,” he added.
Danise Smit, Sales and Customer Services Director for RS Components in South Africa said that the company would be showcasing some of its IoT and Food Safe products and solutions at NAMPO. “We find ourselves in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the use of smart connected devices are becoming the norm in a number of sectors – by adopting technology and the Internet of Things (IoT), farmers can monitor their farms remotely and gain quicker access to important environmental data which will assist in improved planning that can lead to a better yield. RS has several IoT devices and solutions that can help enable the agricultural industry on their journey towards the fourth industrial revolution,” she added.”
RS Components also offers a range of RS Pro Food Safe maintenance products for use in food processing and farming which will also be on display at this year’s show. All RS Pro Food Safe products are registered with the NSF (National Sanitisation Foundation) , an international public health and safety organisation, demonstrating risk reduction compliance. The handling, preparation, processing, and packaging of food products requires machinery with moving parts that come into contact with foodstuffs. Keeping this equipment clean and lubricated involves the use of non-food chemical products. NSF certification ensures that such products present a significantly lowered risk to health and assist to effectively eliminate the risk of foodstuff contamination when used appropriately.
Grain SA’s objective is to use NAMPO as a platform to showcase the role of the commercial agriculture sector in South Africa and to highlight the country’s farming industry as a scientific and sophisticated economic sector that is committed to providing the nation with safe and affordable food.
NAMPO Harvest Day runs from 16-20 May 2022 at NAMPO Park, Bothaville. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.grainsa.co.za/pages/nampo/nampo-home.