By Gerrit Rautenbach Just over a decade ago the Executive Director of Hortgro, Anton Rabe, had a brainwave. He was pondering that, although agriculture is a business about producing food, it is in essence all about the people producing the…
Joy Van Biljon is one of the founder members of the Koue Bokkeveld Training Centre in the small village of Op-die-Berg in the Koue Bokkeveld Region. Since 2000 this training centre has been the cornerstone of skills development and training…
For South African agriculture to transform and be sustainable, uncomfortable conversations are needed, and issues robustly discussed without pointing fingers. Hortgro Executive Director, Anton Rabe, and Hortgro Group Operations Manager, Mariette Kotze, addressed the meeting at the PALS annual general…
“The world has surely become a funny place if one can no longer simply reach out for a handshake, without thinking twice about it or having to sanitize afterward. It’s such a small, basic gesture that is part and parcel…
Caption: The Witte Wijn Appel as captured by artist Karel van Biljon in Buks Nel and Henk Griessel’s book: Apples in the Early Days at the Cape. For the first time in hundreds of years, the progeny of the…
It is with profound sadness that the South African Deciduous Fruit Industry has learnt of the passing of one of its “elder statesmen” – Alastair Moodie. Moodie, known as a problem-solver and innovator, stepped down as chairman of the prominent…
Tienie du Preez, Deciduous Fruit Innovator of the Year 2015, and well-known consultant passed away, yesterday. HORTGRO salutes Tienie and acknowledges the substantial contribution he made to our industry over the years. We share a story about Tienie’s involvement with…
The 1662 Award is special, and you may wonder where it originates and what 1662 refers to. On 17 April 1662, the first two apples were picked in the Company’s Garden at the Cape. They were Witte Wijn Apples. This…
The 1662 award commemorates the first apples that were harvested in the Company Garden at the Cape in that year – 17 April to be exact. Joy van Biljon, one of the founding members of the Koue Bokkeveld Training Centre,…
The Daan Strydom Science and Technical Award is an accolade that recognises excellence in research, science, and technology, and honours those whose work has transformed the deciduous fruit industry. This year, we celebrate not just an achievement, but a lifetime…
The Hortgro Chairperson’s Award honours individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the deciduous fruit industry—either through long-term service (20+ years) or outstanding achievements in their field. We are proud to recognise Hugh Campbell as one of this year’s recipients…