The Rose among De Doorns
From early on in her life, the odds were not necessarily in Elize Lambrechts Boer’s favour. But she refused to let it get to her. She never accepted her situation as fate. She looked life square in the eyes and…
The Russia-Ukraine War and the deciduous fruit industry
By Jacques du Preez A second black swan event in two years and the impact thereof was completely unforeseen, dramatic, and severe. The industry was faced with fruit in transit prior to the war starting as well as further shipments…
The South African apple variety story
In this column about the history of apple varieties in South Africa, we will investigate and explore why some varieties succeed and others disappear. The column will consist of extracts taken from a book by Henk Griessel and Buks Nel,…
The story of Faith
By Elise-Marie Steenkamp Before she blew out her first birthday candle, Faith Nogemane’s life story is straight from a Hollywood script. She was born, 25 years ago as the last of her mother, Ellie’s six children – who at that…
The value of independent evaluation in 2020
Provar was established in 2013 as a cultivar development and support company, with a focus on independent, objective, and scientific evaluation and data management; in order to ensure complete independence and facilitating buy-in of potential clients. In 2015 Hortgro Pome,…
The Value of the Informal Stone Fruit Market Campaign
Text and pictures: Sylvester Moatshe The market development campaigns for stone fruit and pome fruit are designed to drive sustainable demand, increase awareness, and grow consumption of South African produce, while supporting long-term industry growth across key domestic and international…
The woman who changed our industry forever
The story of Miss Kathleen Murray, agricultural pioneer and a woman ahead of her time, reminds us that the power of a woman with skill, determination, and kindness is not to be underestimated in this “man’s world” industry. By Grethe…
The women of Laastedrif
In any given set-up, organisation, team or business, different threads connect all the right dots, making it work splendidly. At the farm Laastedrif, at the top of Bo-Swaarmoed in the Witzenberg District, one of these threads was woven by a…
Thembi Xaba – Newly appointed CEO of the Deciduous Fruit Development Chamber
Focus on women in agriculture: Thembi Xaba – Newly appointed CEO of the Deciduous Fruit Development Chamber She’s a golfer, who is still learning scuba-diving and speaks eight languages. This mother of a baby boy is studying towards her Ph.D…
There is a lot of Saul
Saul Lintnaar from the Graaff Fruit Farm, Lushof, was a finalist at the Deciduous Fruit Industry Gala Awards 2019 in the category “Advanced Agricultural Worker”. Although he didn’t win this one, he has many awards under his belt. However, awards…
There’s no beating about the KBOS
The Koue Bokkeveld Opleidingsentrum (KBOS) does not beat about the bush, mince words or waste time. But they do constantly empower people with knowledge and life skills, Gerrit Rautenbach discovered. I’m on my way to Op-die-Berg and have just begun…
