How much water do high-performing apple orchards need? By Esté Beerwinkel. A lingering drought and remarkably high-yielding orchards compel farmers to give their irrigation practices a second thought. A four-year project set on establishing how much water apple orchards need…
Every fruit farmer knows irrigation is an essential part in growing the perfect crop. Horticulture experts Stephanie Midgley, Wiehann Steyn and Michael Schmeisser explain why this is, and how trees actually use water. By Esté Beerwinkel. Plants need to take…
New research projects will help growers plan for the future. By Anna Mouton. We could all use a crystal ball. Imagine if we could know today whether Saturday a month hence will be braai weather? Or whether or not we…
Good news for the pear industry – a project to quantify the water requirements of high-performing pear orchards has been approved for funding by the Water Research Commission. By Engela Duvenage. The project is set to begin in April 2022,…
Promising preliminary results from a Hortgro-funded study show that dwarfing rootstocks are not more susceptible to water stress than conventional rootstocks. By Engela Duvenage. Initial findings from a three-year study run counter to the views of some producers that dwarfing…
Nets protect apples from sun, hail, sleet, and wind. But do they reduce water use? Preliminary data suggests yes, but less than elsewhere in the world. By Engela Duvenage. Hortgro is co-funding a project with the Water Research Commission to…
Control vegetative growth to improve the water-use efficiency of apple orchards. By Engela Duvenage. This is one of the conclusions in a recent report by a team of researchers from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the Agricultural Research…
The analysis of water use commissioned by Hortgro provides an interesting perspective on evapotranspiration data for pome and stone fruit. By Anna Mouton. The lead researcher on the project, agrometeorologist Dr Caren Jarmain, collaborated with Dr Nicky Taylor, senior lecturer…