Soil health is central to Boschendal Estate’s holistic approach to farming. Written by Anna Mouton. Boschendal is perhaps best known for its wines — the Estate was founded in 1685 and has been making wine for more than three centuries…
To counter the problem of load shedding and to encourage sustainability, farmers are going solar, which is good. But solar on the water is even better, Gerrit Rautenbach discovered. On the one hand, SA’s national electricity supplier is primarily using…
The South African 2020 apple export season has started amidst some uncertainty as to how the COVID-19 outbreak will influence international trade. What is certain though, is that there has been a strong West-East trade shift over the past two…
THE NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERE FACILITY AT STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY AIMS TO ANSWER QUESTIONS NEVER ANSWERED BEFORE Grethe Bestbier Hortgro Pome recently invested R2.5 million in a pristine world-class controlled atmosphere (CA) research facility at Stellenbosch University (SU). Those involved, are…
By Gerrit Rautenbach With delivering up to 20% of South Africa’s total pome fruit production, the Langkloof is one of the best deciduous fruit farming areas in South Africa. It is also one of the areas with the most diverse,…
By Jacques du Preez After a very disappointing 2021/22 season, which despite a good crop turned out to be a disaster on farm level given trade and logistical issues, stone fruit growers and exporters are looking forward to a much-improved…
By Wilechia van der Westhuizen Cherry season has officially begun in South Africa — bringing one of the most colourful, tastiest marketing campaigns of the year. With cherries available for only a brief period, the industry is going all out…
Due to adverse weather events like hail and floods earlier in the year, Hortgro has revised its export forecasts for the 2023 season. The estimated export volume for apples is 40.883 million cartons (12.5 kilograms per carton), showing a 10%…
South African pome fruit producers are looking forward to exports bouncing back. This, on the back of a lower pome fruit export crop due to hail damage in some of the major fruit producing areas during 2023. The 2024 harvest…
Shipments of South African apples to the UK market have risen by 20 percent during the 2018 season, says Hortgro, the organisation representing growers in South Africa. Cumulative volumes of the fruit to the week ending July 1st, 2018, showed…
The South African apple industry turns 363 on April 17. The first two Witte Wijnappels were harvested in Cape Town’s Companies Garden in 1662 – a moment that seeded an industry now exporting nearly 50 million cartons yearly. (Image: Tru-Cape…
