By Elise-Marie Steenkamp The deciduous fruit industry is almost totally dependent on a healthy honeybee population and a viable beekeeping industry. It is therefore important that beekeepers and the industry regularly engage and share future challenges and growth projections. Mariette…
The Western Cape Bee Industry Association, the WCBA, is not issuing a recommended tariff this year for members hiring out their beehives for the pollination of agricultural crops. The WCBA has, instead, advised its members to negotiate individually with farmers…
By Engela Duvenage “Our mission is to enable upcoming farmers with the necessary skill, knowledge, and tools to prosper,” says Mariette Kotze, Hortgro’s group operations manager. Numerous recent documents and reports have allowed the pome and stone fruit industry to…
Water risks for pome fruit packhouses Blue North Sustainability was contracted by the Packhouse Action Group (PAG) to conduct a study on the water risks faced by pome fruit packhouses and cold storage operations. Find an infographic summary of the…
“While we recognise that the Port of Cape Town (PoCT) management is implementing a terminal turn-around strategy and welcome the acquisition of new infrastructure, the worryingly slow pace at which it is happening remains a deep concern and has direct…
By Desireé Thompson On 17 September 2024, the Post-Harvest Innovation (PHI) Programme held its Steering Committee meeting at the Hortgro Science offices on the Welgevallen Experimental farm in Stellenbosch. The meeting was followed by project presentations by five PHI researchers…
Research on soil health and orchard floor ecology is an emerging theme in agriculture as it is an important component of sustainability. Hortgro Science Crop Protection Manager, Matthew Addison along with Hendrik Pohl, had the vision to initiate a cover…
Cape Town, Wednesday – 12 February 2025 — Stakeholders in the export-orientated fruit value chain, together with the Western Cape Government and Transnet Port Terminals, are pleased to announce a new collaboration aimed at enhancing operations at the Cape Town…
Anna Mouton reports on a new programme that empowers producers to select cultivars wisely. A new programme for the evaluation of pome and stone fruit cultivars was recently launched at Klipboschlaagte near Ashton. The Pro-Hort programme is the result of…
Deur Kara van der Berg Produksiebestuurders is leiers op plase en werk met vrugte en mense. Daarom is dit belangrik om nuwe bestuurders toe te rus met die nodige leierskapsvaardighede. Dit is die mening van Pieter Rabe, Suiderland Plase se…
Vrugteprodusente in verskeie dele van die Wes-Kaap tel steeds die koste van die onlangse swaar reën en oorstromings wat groot skade aan plase, infrastruktuur en boorde veroorsaak het. Anthony Dicey van La Plaisant Estate sê die Breërivier en Kleinrivier het…
