South Africa’s deciduous fruit industry was well represented at the recent IOBC-WPRS Integrated Protection of Fruit Crops meeting held in Wageningen, Netherlands, from 14–18 September 2025. The event brought together experts from 19 countries to exchange knowledge on integrated pest…
How Hortgro Science Prioritises and Manages Industry-Funded Research Projects, by Anna Mouton. On the first Tuesday in June 2025, more than 300 members of the deciduous-fruit industry gathered at the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West for the opening of…
Small Acts, Big Impacts – Implementing the Climate Change Response Strategy for the Deciduous Fruit Sector in South Africa, by Nitasha Baijnath-Pillay. While climatic challenges have always existed, the scientific consensus is that climate change is a ‘threat multiplier’, increasing…
Deur Engela Duvenage Kleintyd het ‘n boek in Benoni se biblioteek die eerste keer dr. Steffan Hansen se belangstelling in snuitkewers (ook bekend as kalanders) geprikkel. Oor die jare het sy belangstelling in insekte sodanig gegroei dat dié 25-jarige onlangs…
She steps down in December but her contributions to dormancy research will continue to help pome- and stone-fruit growers negotiate climate change for many years to come. By Anna Mouton. Western Cape winters are getting warmer and the application of…
Hortgro spoke to her about her new role and to learn what the SmartAgri Plan offers to the deciduous fruit industry. By Anna Mouton Whatever their views on climate change, most people in the pome-and stone-fruit industries can agree about…
By Engela Duvenage Dr Elke Crouch, newly appointed Postharvest Physiology Research Chair in Deciduous Fruit at Stellenbosch University (SU), unequivocally loves her work in the fruit industry. For one, it allows her to work closely with people who have over…
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…
By Elise-Marie Steenkamp Matthew Addison, Crop Protection Manager at Hortgro Science, explains the nitty-gritty of the cover crop research project with trial sites in the Warm and the Koue Bokkeveld. TRIAL LAYOUT The layout of the trial consists of four…
HORTGRO supports a study by Dr Daan Louw investigating crime in rural areas of the Western Cape. Please find the rationale and background information for the study, below. Letter of introduction: letter-introduction-oabs-signed WCDoA safety benchmark: wcdoa-safety-benchmark-introduction-may-2020 Rural safety baseline: rural-safety-baseline-bidders-briefing-session-final…
After a prolonged and intensive process of negotiations between Hortgro and the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), the Hortgro Pome and Stone Fruit Boards have made a decision that the industry should dis-engage itself from the ARC breeding programme with immediate…
By Grethe Bestbier For Dr Esmé Louw, newly appointed chair of the Stellenbosch University Department of Horticultural Science, the chance to make a real and tangible impact in the industry is just one of the things that excite her about…