Potato Industry Development Trust

The Potato Industry Development Trust (PIDT) was established in 2004 to develop the next generation of skilled professionals for South Africa's potato and broader agricultural sector. The Trust is funded through statutory levies collected across the potato value chain, and it channels that income into research, development, and training initiatives that keep the industry technically competitive. PIDT operates under the umbrella of Potatoes South Africa (Potatoes SA), the producer organisation based in Pretoria that describes itself as the collective voice of the country's potato growers, with a stated focus on driving transformation and facilitating research, innovation, and knowledge-building across the sector.

Because potato production depends on a steady pipeline of agronomists, plant scientists, and agricultural economists, PIDT's bursary programme exists to secure that pipeline directly rather than leave it to chance. The Trust funds both undergraduate and postgraduate students, generally from at least their second year of study, in fields such as Agricultural Economics, Agronomy, Plant Production, Crop Production, and Soil Science — disciplines chosen because they map directly onto the technical skills the industry says it is short of.

Recipients take on a formal work-back obligation: after completing their studies, bursary holders are required to work for a potato-industry-related organisation, company, or institution for a period equal to the length of time they held the bursary, so that the Trust's investment returns skills directly to the sector that funded it.