Support from industry partners and other patrons of the Faculty of AgriSciences' golf day strengthens the faculty's bursary fund, which directly benefits disadvantaged students.

This is according to Prof Danie Brink, dean of the Faculty of AgriSciences at Stellenbosch University (SU). “In our centenary year, we look to the future and consider how we can provide quality education and widening access," he says. The faculty uses this bursary fund to provide financial support to academically deserving students. “Without this financial boost, many students simply cannot continue their studies," he points out.

The faculty's annual golf day took place Thursday, 15 November. It was hosted at the De Zalze golf estate, with 120 people participating. The main sponsors of this year's fundraising event were Yara Africa Fertilizer and Van Loveren Family Vineyards.

Yara regularly sponsors the faculty's golf day. According to Jurie de Kock, commercial manager of Yara, the company gladly supports the faculty's fundraising efforts. “By contributing to the faculty's bursary fund, we are helping to build a sector that is willing and able to advance farming,'' he says. De Kock believes the bursary fund helps to ensure that SU graduates are well-equipped to enter the workplace. It also strengthens the knowledge base which is needed to ensure future progress of the agricultural sector.

This is the fourth year that Yara has sponsored this golf day. The recently also sponsored three postgraduate bursaries for students in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture respectively - two in 2017 and one this year. The company currently also sponsors two postgraduate bursaries for students in the Departments of Agronomy and Horticulture. It also supports research projects at these departments that involve practice-oriented research, mainly on calcium nutrition in the local fruit industry. Yara further sponsors all the fertilisers required annually by the Department of Agronomy in its research glasshouses.

Yara is a supplier of crop nutrition in more than 150 countries. It has a marketing network for products and services for all crop types across the Western Cape and also other designated areas of South Africa.

In turn, Phillip Retief of the famous Van Loveren family estate says it is vital for industry partners to help build a knowledge base in the sector. “We regard the faculty as an important partner to expand knowledge and skill levels." Retief believes that Van Loveren's support of the golf day - and thus the faculty's bursary fund - will contribute to quality education. “This sponsorship also gives us the opportunity to promote our brand and establish partnerships through networking."

Van Loveren is a well-known family cellar located in the Robertson valley. The Retief family, a third generation of wine-lovers, has been involved in wine-making on this farm since 1937. The Retiefs consider themselves to be proud custodians of time and opportunity - traditions, knowledge and passion (for wine-making) are transferred from one generation to the next. This includes their closely held ties with SU where Wynand, Hennie and Phillip Retief graduated.

Van Loveren is regarded as one of South Africa's leading wineries. Some of their brands include Van Loveren, Christina, Tangled Tree, Rhino Run and the popular Four Cousins. Closely following and predicting consumer trends drives product innovation and the most recent examples of this are the Almost Zero de-alcoholised 'wine' as well as the only Pinot Grigio Rosé, perlé-style wine on the South African market, Perlé de Jean.

The winning team was from the department of Agri-Economics, proff Mohammad Karaan, Burhan Karaan, Dikeledi Mosime and Ronald Ramabulana.