A joint venture between Hortgro and Dutoit Agri aims to reduce losses of exportable apples due to bruising. By Anna Mouton. “We produce 70% export-quality fruit off the tree, but we struggle to get 50% into an export carton,” says…
Experts explain two agrochemical options that growers can use to manage harvest maturity. By Anna Mouton. Ethylene is a plant hormone that promotes fruit ripening, flower opening, and leaf dropping. In mature pome and most stone fruit, ethylene drives the…
What happens in the orchard doesn’t stay in the orchard. By Anna Mouton. Apples’ storage potential is largely determined by their condition at harvest. Most growers are well aware of the crucial role of optimum maturity, but factors such as…
Growers consider many factors when deciding which cultivars to plant — postharvest performance should be one of these. By Anna Mouton. Planting trends often follow fruit prices, observes Keith Bradley, general manager of Fruitways AgriServices. “People look at their returns…
The following applies to all scald-susceptible fruit. Preharvest risk factors Hot and dry weather in the weeks before harvest. Increased risk could be the result of drought stress. Both increase ethylene and α-farnesene — important precursors of superficial-scald promoting compounds.…
Technology can safely maintain fruit at minimal oxygen levels during long-term storage to effectively inhibit superficial scald in Granny Smith. By Anna Mouton. The idea that oxygen removal can prevent superficial scald in apples isn’t new — it was first…
A recent Hortgro-funded project assessed risk indicators and storage protocols for improved superficial scald management in Granny Smith apples. By Anna Mouton. Superficial scald is a postharvest disorder of apples and pears characterised by areas of brown or black skin…
Why does it occur, and how can it be prevented? By Anna Mouton. Superficial scald is a postharvest storage disorder of apples and pears characterised by brown or black areas on their skins. Their flesh is usually normal, but the…
Some areas are seeing this orchard-floor dweller moving up and damaging fruit. By Carin Smith. Cenaeus carnifex, commonly known as the red bug due to its colour, is indigenous to South Africa and ubiquitous in orchards, usually on the orchard…
A summary of Hortgro-funded apple-rootstock research projects. By Anna Mouton. Rootstock research at Hortgro Science includes evaluation trials and horticultural and disease-related projects. Rootstock evaluation The first Hortgro-funded trials of Geneva rootstocks, led by Carlo Costa of the ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij,…