NEW | Innovative Platforms with Information at your Fingertips

Hortgro has launched two new platforms to help keep industry stakeholders informed: The Quick Identification Guide for Key Phytosanitary Pests of South African Deciduous Fruit and the Postharvest/Packhouse Action Group App.

Dr Shelley Johnson compiled the Phyto ID Guide several years ago. The Guide has now been updated and is available as a web-based app. Dr Johnson is a Hortgro Research Associate (Phytosanitary Entomology and Market Access) at the Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University.

The identification guide contains images and descriptions of moths, fruit flies, spotted wing drosophila, mealybugs, weevils and grain chinch bug, highlighting distinguishing morphological features and related fruit damage on some host crops. The app also provides access to BlueBug Insect Diagnostic Services at Stellenbosch University, where requests for insect identification can be submitted online.

Correct identification of insect pests is critical to make informed decisions related to management and control, particularly pests of phytosanitary importance in the context of international agricultural trade. Visit the Hortgo Science website to request registration for access to pest and fruit damage information or to submit insect identification requests. Click here:  https://phyto.hortgro.science/

The Postharvest/Packhouse Action Group App is a reinvention of information that was already available, but without a proper search function. Hortgro Communications Manager, Elise-Marie Steenkamp, stated that over 400 PDF documents, covering topics such as postharvest research, packhouse action group news and events, and pome and stone handling protocols, were available on the Hortgro website. “The problem with the information was that everything was in PDF format, without any searchability. So, unless you knew exactly what you were looking for and where to find it, searching for it would have been a challenge.”

The new format allows easier online browsing and searching. Find the Postharvest/PAG App here: https://postharvest.hortgro.co.za/

“We encourage our producers and packhouse stakeholders to make use of these new tools and provide us with feedback, so that we can fine-tune these new platforms,” Steenkamp said. Send your comments to info@hortgro.co.za