One of the greatest sources of high fruit fly populations is from year-round infestation in town gardens which serve as a source of infestation of adjacent farms. All fruit trees as well as other trees/shrubs which bear fleshy berries/fruitlets can…
FruitLook is a web-based tool that is informing farmers, consultants and researchers in the Western Cape since 2011. It used to be used primarily for monitoring the growth and water use of vineyards, hence, its original moniker of GrapeLook. Since…
Hortgro Resource and Sustainability Manager, Nitasha Baijnath-Pillay, shares her top 7 tips on how to become a more sustainable fruit grower: Have a long-term perspective: Long-term planning, continuous innovation and sufficient investment in research and development, adopting new technologies and…
For most of her life, Jenny Maarman wanted to sing. But she always believed her voice was too dark (thick, she calls it). But then Agri’s Got Talent (AGT) came her way. And opened many doors…By Gerrit Rautenbach. Jenny was…
People simply do not talk about their emotions enough. They focus a lot on practical matters, and the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic is having on the economy at large, yet do not divulge how it is affecting their own…
The English poet John Donne wrote four hundred years ago, ‘No man is an island’. This adage rings particularly true for Raymond Koopstad from La Vouere farm in the Ceres Valley. His journey into agriculture took many turns, but it…
By Gerrit Rautenbach It doesn’t matter where or who you are, we all have the same essential drive. To not only make it, but also to make a difference. On a certain day in the Bokkeveld this universal truth was…
Text and Pictures: Elise-Marie Steenkamp Standing on a hill in Mpumalanga, overlooking the rolling green valleys of Zwelihle near Amersfoort, it’s hard not to think of Karen Blixen’s famous line: “I had a farm in Africa.” But for businessman and…
Every year an estimated 1.44 billion m3 of water is lost to invasive plants in South Africa. To put it in perspective, this amount of water loss is enough to provide 3.38 million households with four inhabitants with water for…
Fresh Notes 157: Mites in hot and dry conditions. fresh-notes-157-mites-22-february-2019-2 Fresh Notes 159: Monitoring & control of BDfresh-notes-159-bdorsalis-monitoring-23-april-2019-1 Fresh Notes 169: Harvesting during heatwave conditions.fresh-notes-169-heat-damage-plums-preharvest-updated-2020-2
Pollination for deciduous fruit orchards is almost over, and soon hives will disappear from orchards until next year. Every year’s pollination is different. This year, with the excellent rains, the veldblomme are showing spectacularly, which often makes bees less interested…
In the heart of Ceres, South Africa’s apple country, Robert Zulch stood out as a symbol of both tradition and innovation in agriculture. With a career spanning over three decades, Zulch became synonymous with high-quality apples and sustainable farming practices…