Resistant bacteria isolated throughout fresh produce and environmental samples from smallholder farms in South Africa

This comprehensive dataset comprises of physicochemical, microbiological, and genomic analyses of environmental samples collected from smallholder fresh produce farming systems in the Northern regions of South Africa. It explores the <b>water-soil-plant nexus </b>through analysis of parameters including water quality (pH, BOD, COD, turbidity, TDS and TSS), total coliform and <i>Escherichia coli </i>contamination levels in irrigation water, soil, and fresh produce were analysed using SAS version 9.3 statistical software, as well as the resistance profiles of bacterial isolates (e.g <i>E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>, other Enterobacterales species). Genomic data, acquired through whole genome sequencing, includes bacterial sequence types, serotypes, pathogenicity predictions, mobile genetic elements, virulence and resistance gene presence in separate table formats.