South African Cultivar and Technology Agency (SACTA)

About SACTA

The South African Cultivar and Technology Agency (SACTA) is a non-profit company that administers the statutory breeding levies for self-pollinated grain and oilseed crops in South Africa. These crops include wheat, barley, oats, soybeans and lupins. SACTA was established in 2016 with the specific purpose of administering this levy.

The levy matters because farmers of self-pollinated crops can keep and replant their own seed. Without a levy, plant breeders struggle to earn back what they spend on developing new varieties. SACTA collects the levy and channels it back into breeding and new technology, so that South African farmers get access to better cultivars.

SACTA's stated aim is to help ensure food security through the development of new genetics and technology for open-pollinated crops. It believes that cultivars should balance yield and quality, so that every part of the value chain benefits. It notes that South Africa imports more than half of its wheat, and that the country needs more investment in new varieties to change this.

How SACTA supports students

SACTA runs a bursary scheme for honours, master's and doctoral students whose research relates to grain and oilseed breeding and technology. SACTA says it has awarded more than 50 bursaries over five years. Agri Manage Solutions administers the scheme on SACTA's behalf.

For the most recent call, master's students could receive R99,750 a year for two years, and doctoral students R131,250 a year for three years. SACTA sets the amounts each year. Payments depend on approved progress reports, and students and supervisors report every quarter. You can read the full terms on our SACTA Bursary page.

The bursary builds skills for the industry that SACTA serves. That is why it comes with a work-back condition: graduates must work in South Africa's grain and oilseed breeding and technology industry, for an organisation that SACTA approves, for as long as the bursary ran.

What to know before applying

Applications open on 1 September and close on 30 September each year. You must be a South African citizen, admitted to full-time study, with research that links to wheat, barley, oats, soybeans or lupins. SACTA must approve both your research proposal and your supervisor before your studies begin, and you may not hold other funding at the same time.

Prepare your documents in August, because the application window is only one month long. You will need your ID, CV, latest academic transcript, proof of registration and a signed legal undertaking. Shortlisted applicants have a telephone interview, and successful applicants hear within eight weeks of the closing date.

For bursary questions, contact the administrators on 012 807 3958. For information about SACTA's levy work and its other programmes, visit its official website at sactalevy.co.za.