Persevering with biological pineapples

Making the transition from conventional farming to organic farming, and then to biological farming, hasn’t been easy for this Hluhluwe pineapple farmer. But achieving a higher yield in extremely dry conditions has made it worth his while. Robyn Joubert investigates.

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Hluhluwe pineapple farmer Anton Louw has experienced perpetual drought for eight years. Yet in September, after five months without a drop of rain, he harvested 8 000 boxes/ha – his best yield since 2003.Anton attributes his success to his conversion from conventional to biological farming methods. “All our efforts are aimed at improving the soil’s organic matter content,” he says.

“The higher the organic material, the better the soil’s water-holding capacity and the greater its porosity. It also helps drainage if there’s excess rain.”Anton, his father Napoleon, and his brother Jacques own 500ha in Hluhluwe at the foot of the Umbombo Mountains. Napoleon bought the first 60ha plot in 1987. Then he added a neighbouring  216ha cattle and pineapple farm. In 1999, they bought Sisalana, the name of which refers to the days when sisal was farmed there, explains Anton, who studied accountancy at the then-Rand Afrikaans University before returning to farming.

The challenge of farming organically
The family has grown Queen pineapples for 25 years, and plant 20ha of pineapples annually. When Anton ploughed up virgin land five years ago, the family decided to use the opportunity to farm organically. “We had good yields when we used pesticides and herbicides, but the soil degradation and input costs were getting out of control,” says Anton. “We saw organic farming as an opportunity to keep the soil in good condition.”

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But trying to farm without chemicals was tough, and Anton admits they converted to an organic operation far too quickly – and before they fully understood what they had to contend with. We stopped mulching and using herbicides and weeds got out of control,” he says. “We also didn’t understand the importance of organic matter. Yields plummeted from 7 000 boxes/ha to between 3 000 boxes/ha and 5 000 boxes/ha. It was quite a hard knock to bear.”

The organic market dealt a second blow. While Anton supplied organic fruit to Wensleydale for distribution, demand was only 1t/week, and he needed to move 20t/week. “We received a premium for organic pineapples, but we couldn’t move the volume we produced,” he recalls.Despite this, Anton rallied and began making the transition back to a more appropriate system. He let his EcoCert organic certification lapse and shifted to biological farming.
 
“As long as the market for organic pineapples is so limited, the hassle and expense of certification isn’t worth it,” he explains.“We’re basically still farming organically, but we can now use some biological amendments that aren’t certified by all organic systems.” Anton also reintroduced plastic film mulching to control weeds. “We lay the film by hand and cover the entire land so there are no open pathways. This gives 20% greater root area and the soil retains moisture better. Even though it takes more effort, it saves years of weeding. Removing it is also easy,” he says.

Balancing the soil
A key management practice at Sisalana is soil balancing. The ARC Institute for Industrial Crops at Rustenburg tests soil samples regularly. Ronald Schroeder from Advanced Nutrients interprets the results, examines the calcium:phosphate ratio and checks whether the soil is dominated by fungi or bacteria. Taking into account the soil and specific crop requirements, he designs an integrated biological and chemical fertiliser programme.

Advanced Nutrients specialises in catalysing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which enhances the uptake and availability of chemical fertiliser. The fertiliser is further enhanced by adding calcium silicate and sulphur with a high quality humic acid. Less catalysed and enhanced fertiliser is needed to produce the desired result. Ronald recommends a combination of microorganisms to suppress fungal-, bacterial- and insect-borne diseases. For example, a concentrated Trichoderma emulsion improves the plant’s systemic resistance to root diseases, such as Fusarium.

Adding organic matter to the soil lies at the heart of the soil balancing plan. Compost is brought in from Pongola, 80km away. The soil organic matter content is currently between 2% and 3%. “Increased organic content improves the water-holding capacity of the soil, helping plants survive drought,” says Anton. “It also helps with drainage, aerates the soil and provides food for the microbes at the base of the food chain. This is important, because if you use inoculants with soil microbes, you have to provide a suitable environment.”

He has found that if the soil organic matter level is high enough, nematodes have no noticeable effect on yield. “Either the plants are better equipped to handle nematodes, or the nematodes feed on something other than the pineapples,” he explains. Compost is applied at a rate of about 40t/ha prior to every planting, although Anton would like to apply 100t/ha, and increase the organic matter content to 5%. “It’s quite an effort to handle such a mountain of compost, but we don’t want heavy trailers to enter the lands and compact the soil, so we spread it by hand,” he notes.

Reducing input costs
Some 90% of the crop is marketed on fresh-produce markets in Durban, Pretoria, Johannesburg and Klerksdorp under the farm’s Waterloo brand. The remaining 10% is exported to Europe, the Middle East and the US via agents at the OR Tambo International Airport. But production and marketing costs are heavy, amounting to about R170 000/ha. “The industry is caught in a cost squeeze,” says Anton. “We can’t expect people to pay much more for pineapples, so we have to reduce input costs.”

It’s here where biological farming scores. “Conventional pineapple farming costs about R65 000/ha in direct input costs, including fertiliser, chemicals, biological inoculants, mulch and labour. Input costs under biological farming are about R30 000/ha,” explains Anton. “We use affordable inoculants instead of harsh chemicals, and this is where we save. They are more difficult to manage, but higher yields under harsh conditions make it worthwhile.”

Going biological makes for good results
He currently plants 1ha under drip irrigation to get a crop into the ground, instead of waiting for the summer rain. Pineapples take 12 to 18 months from planting to harvest, and normally bear only once before the suckers are harvested and used to establish a new crop. However, Anton expects his first ratoon crop this year, thanks to improved soil organic matter and mulch. “We’ve finally got good yields with biological farming and we know the profitability is there,” he says.

Contact Anton Louw on 082 945 7293, or e-mail [email protected]; and Ronald Schroder on 083 776 7860, or e-mail [email protected].