Fruit & Nuts

Local litchi producers compete with Madagascar and Mauritius during the counter-seasonal summer harvest. To meet global demand, production chains must stay efficient, says Jaco Henery, production manager at Komati Fruits, who explains how they manage their harvest for exports.

TopFruit provides South African producers with stone fruit varieties that meet specific market demands. Our selection spans the entire growing season and includes cultivars with varying chilling requirements, ensuring adaptability across different climates and production conditions.

When Jacques de Villiers took over the Giba banana farm in Kiepersol, Mpumalanga, after a hurricane destroyed the plantation, he had little more than experience and determination to work with. By reviving old plantations, tightening labour management, and applying data-driven precision, he is proving that banana farming can be profitable and sustainable – even on a shoestring budget.

Dragon fruit farming in South Africa has been fraught with challenges, resulting in many undertakings being abandoned. But perseverance pays off, and through constant fine-tuning, Freddie Steyn has triumphed. He shared his recipe for success with Lindi Botha.

Following rapid expansion between 2014 and 2019, most of South Africa’s macadamia nut orchards have reached maturity. The larger trees and denser orchards require a different approach to management in order to get the full yield that mature orchards promise.

South Africa produces a wide range of apple cultivars, from export staples like Golden Delicious and Granny Smith to sweet varieties preferred across the continent. New cultivars are also gaining ground, attracting interest from farmers and consumers.

Over the years, Eduard Dreyer ventured into different markets to build his business’s resilience. Groundnuts, however, became a core part of his farming enterprise, so much so that he built a processing plant that specialises in cleaning and sorting the crop. Nichelle Steyn reports on how Eduard and his son Christian handle the 2 000t harvest.

Avocado production in South Africa has expanded markedly since the industry’s humble beginnings over 80 years ago. From a small grove planted in 1938 in what was then Nelspruit, the industry has blossomed to seven million trees planted on 20 000ha. Dr Guy Witney, project manager at Great Brak Avos, spoke to Annelie Coleman about the country’s avocado production.

Growing cherries in a suboptimal climate requires manipulating trees and temperatures. But with a considerable market advantage, it is worth the effort. Lindi Botha visited ZZ2’s Toscana farm, which for four weeks of the year takes prime position in the cherry market.

Macadamia farming is a long-term investment that could keep paying off for decades to come if a solid foundation has been laid. Farmer Johan Swanepoel spoke to Lindi Botha about establishing new orchards, and the benefits to be reaped from managing soil health from the start.

Blueberries have been identified as an ideal crop for boosting agriculture’s contribution to South Africa’s gross domestic product. Given the labour-intensive nature of this crop and its lucrative export market, investing in it was an obvious choice for Pan African Resources and Primocane Capital as a means of supporting rural communities near Barberton in Mpumalanga.

In 2019, dairy farmer Jonathan Willows and his business partner, Laine Collett, launched a pineapple operation on a dairy farm in the Eastern Cape. They spoke to Mike Burgess about why and how they rebooted a once-successful pineapple farm to set them up to produce 7 000t of the Cayenne variety a year.

With the support of his wife, Andrew Doré has changed his approach to macadamia farming by adopting organic practices. He spoke to Sinenhlanhla Mncwango about his farming experience, challenges, and how he expanded his business into processing macadamia nuts into health products.

Featuring an array of delicious fruit from peaches to cherries, stone fruit is attractive to a variety of bugs that can be effectively controlled with integrated pest management, writes Zunel van Eeden.

As unfussy as they come, pomegranates are a relatively easy crop to cultivate. With market conditions picking up, the fruit offers first-time, part-time and long-time farmers an attractive option should they find themselves in the right climate. Lindi Botha reports on the success of a farm in Gauteng.

As fruit-importing countries become increasingly intolerant of pest infestations and diseases posing phytosanitary risks and equally intolerant of the use of pesticides, South African fruit producers have had to revisit their pest and disease management strategies, writes Magda du Toit.

Avocado production in South Africa has traditionally been linked to the hot and humid northern provinces. Recently, though, Western Cape plantings have grown. Louis Vorster, who has extensive experience in avocado production, spoke to Marinda Louw Coetzee about the differences in production between these regions.

Treequattro is looking for South African producers to augment production of its non-oxidating Maribelle apple variety, which is boosting farm income in Europe.

A group of agricultural journalists representing 15 member countries of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists recently visited the south of Spain to explore the agricultural operations and opportunities unique to that region.

Bennie Diedericks, head of consultants at Resalt, said at the SA Olive field day that farmers would succeed if they focused on the things under their control.