Smart Orchard 2.0
An ongoing project in Washington State puts technology to the test. By Anna Mouton. The explosion of new technologies has been a mixed blessing for fruit growers. Never before have growers had access to so much data — and never…
Protective netting in Washington State
Research results demonstrate the many benefits of putting nets over apple orchards. By Anna Mouton. Sunburn is as much a problem in Washington State as it is in South Africa. Washington growers have historically managed sunburn through overhead evaporative cooling…
Exploit physiology to transform yields
Will 200 tonnes per hectare become the new normal? By Anna Mouton. Debates about the relationship of yield to planting systems and tree structure are as old as horticulture, according to plant physiologist Dr Ken Breen of the New Zealand…
Fruit quality underpins profits
Tonnes are not enough — growers must focus on boosting Class 1 pack-outs. By Anna Mouton. Technical adviser Willie Kotze of Dutoit Agri thinks that apple producers are leaving money on the table by not optimising fruit quality. He believes…
Escape the cost-income wedge
A focus on yield and quality is indispensable to profitable pome-fruit farming. By Anna Mouton. “The good news is that there are some brilliant orchards — and growers — that are making a lot of money,” said Graeme Krige, technical…
Who is going to eat South African apples?
And what should growers be doing to prepare for the future? By Anna Mouton. Rising prosperity in developing countries will boost market opportunities for South African apples over the next twenty years according to data presented by Dr Nigel Cook…
Fifty years of apple-scab research
A summary of historical South African research on apple scab starting in 1970 with the work of Dr Wolf Schwabe. By Anna Mouton. Schwabe conducted extensive research on apple scab while with the Fruit and Fruit Technology Research Institute —…
Apple scab 101
What is it and what can be done about it? By Anna Mouton. Apple scab or black spot is a disease of apples caused by the fungus Venturia inaequalis — unaffectionately known to many growers as fusi — short for…
Peach fruit fly
Whereas spotted-wing drosophila is the black sheep of an otherwise blameless family, the peach fruit fly is one of the Mafiosi of the insect world. By Anna Mouton. The peach fruit fly — Bactrocera zonata — shares a genus with…
Light brown apple moth
Larvae of the light brown apple moth eat pretty much anything — this is never a good sign in a pest. By Anna Mouton. The light brown apple moth — Epiphyas postvittana — is a leaf-roller moth in the well-known…