South African apple growers are leveraging rootstock diversity to adapt and thrive in an increasingly complex industry. By Anna Mouton. In a 1978 issue of The Deciduous Fruit Grower, Dr Oloff Bergh and co-authors rated M.793 as the top rootstock…
Industry experts share their take on M.9 versus G.778, where to plant what, and other factors influencing orchard success. By Anna Mouton. The crop-production panel discussion at the 2026 Hortgro Technical Symposium focused on an evergreen topic: apple rootstocks. To…
How Dutoit Agri leverages technology to turn data into actionable information. By Anna Mouton. “Fruit cultivation is similar to a road trip,” said Johan Kotze, Head: Dutoit Agri Eastern Cape. “We need to know the road and the destination, but…
No new technology is fit for every situation. How can growers decide what to implement? By Anna Mouton. “I’m going to define technology as a tool or technique that increases efficiency or productivity, reduces uncertainty or helps manage risk, or…
Philagro South Africa and industry bodies stand together to protect growers’ access to an essential rest-breaking chemical. By Anna Mouton. In 2025, the Women on Farms Project, a self-described feminist non-governmental organisation, started agitating for a ban on hydrogen cyanamide…
Technical advisers from the main production regions share their approaches to rest-breaking in apples and pears. By Anna Mouton. “I think there are very few places in the Western Cape where you don’t need to spray rest-breaking agents,” says Christo…
Effective strategies can boost orchard profitability, but rest-breaking isn’t a cure-all for poor adaptability. By Anna Mouton. “There are very few orchards in our group that don’t receive rest-breaking applications,” says Pierre Rossouw, technical director at Stems Fruit. “I think…
Understanding natural fruit drop is essential for successful chemical thinning. By Anna Mouton. Chemical thinning to remove surplus flowers and fruit is widely employed to improve fruit size and quality and reduce biennial bearing in pome fruit. New product registrations…
A recent expansion of the registration of s-abscisic acid unlocks new options for chemical thinning of pears. By Anna Mouton. The past season saw the first South African registration of s-abscisic acid (s-ABA) for thinning and increasing fruit mass in…
The newly registered 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) increases the scope for late thinning of apples. By Anna Mouton. “ACC became available during the past season for chemical thinning of apples in the 15–20-mm fruitlet-diameter window,” says Werner Truter, Product Manager at…