SA ‘carrot king’, Vito Rugani, passes away

South African carrot farming legend, mentor and pastor Vito Rugani, 64, passed away on Monday afternoon.

SA’s agricultural sector is mourning the loss of the country’s leading carrot grower, a visionary leader who transformed a small farming operation into a thriving enterprise, Greenway Farms, and who empowered many farmers, reports foodformzanzi.co.za

Magalies River Christian Centre says on its Facebook page it announces “with intense sorrow and godly peace” that its founder and pastor “has stepped into eternity, his eternal reward”..

“As Pastor, mentor, husband, father, grandfather, business partner, and friend to so many around the world his life was one of mission, trust, and faith in God. His life testified to the beauty of grace and the power of prayer and faith,” says the church.

African Farming spoke to Rugani’s neighbour and mentee, Eric Mauwane of Oneo Farms, who has been under Rugani’s mentorship since he started farming in Tarlton in 2012. 

Mauwane, who featured in the African Farming TV series season 2 and magazine, said he received a phone call from Rugani’s partner, Vincent Sequeira, to break the news of Rugani’s passing. Although still in shock, Mauwane paid a tribute to a legend who has played a crucial role in his farming career. “He was just not an ordinary person. We had a session late last week and he gave me homework, for which we had scheduled a feedback session later this week,” said Mauwane. 

Although Rugani had largely retired, he recently shared his life lessons with commercial farmers at African Farming’s recent Agri-Development Imbizo in Boksburg. (In the video. from the imbizo, below, Rugani tells more about his extraordinary agricultural journey.)

Rugani was still sleeping on the floor in a Hillbrow apartment in the early 1990s, but over 25 years he and his partner, Vincent Sequeira, became South Africa’s largest carrot producers.

After starting with a small mixed vegetable farm of 20 hectares, their operation now has 3 700 ha in Tarlton, Bokpoort in Limpopo and Christiana in the Free State, and produces 250 tons of carrots a day. Sequeira always oversaw the mechanical side of the farm, while Rugani focused on labour and economic issues.

Later, they opened a plant in Tarlton where more than 80 tons of carrots can be converted daily into 40 000 litres of juice.

The major turning point for Greenway Farms was when Rugani and Sequeira visited carrot farmers in Australia. After receiving good advice on finances and labour utilisation, they decided to focus solely on carrot production. Greenway Farms also took the lead with the first hydro-cooled carrots in South Africa.

The business is still largely in the hands of the two families. Rugani had six sons and two daughters, and Sequeira has five daughters and a son. One of Sequeira’s daughters, Anita Browne, was named Gauteng’s Young Farmer of the Year in 2019 due to her involvement in the farm.

Rugani is survived by his wife, Keme.

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