Although she describes herself as a lifelong city child, born and raised in Bellville, Dr Anél Botes opted to study Viticulture and Oenology at Stellenbosch University. “I wanted to do something where I wouldn’t be in an office all day,”…
A new project to reduce plastic in pome-fruit packaging. By Grethe Bestbier. As the pressure on producers and pack houses to use environmentally friendly practices increases, a group of researchers is asking how we can reduce the use of plastic…
A Hortgro-funded study investigated the effect of different cooling strategies on common storage disorders of Fuji apples. By Anna Mouton. Study highlights summarised The main finding of this study is that room cooling is superior to stepwise cooling for Fuji…
Initial and repeated low-oxygen stress can extend the scald-free storage life of Packham’s Triumph pears. By Anna Mouton. Packham’s Triumph remains South Africa’s biggest pear cultivar by area planted and volume exported — nearly 40% of pear cartons we shipped…
Finding the causes and cures for moisture loss. By Grethe Bestbier. Moisture loss in pears is the subject of a new project that started in April this year. The project team includes Anél Botes of the Agricultural Research Council’s division…