Oak Valley
Growing greener Grannies. By Anna Mouton. “Granny Smith is a very high value apple,” says Graeme Krige, technical adviser at Fruitmax Agri, “but it has to be perfectly green or it’s out. It’s not the case that mild sunburn is…
Paardekloof
Maximising returns on investment. By Anna Mouton. “To earn more money, you need to put more apples into the export market,” says Willie Kotze, technical adviser with Dutoit Agri. “You’re not going to win by trying to cut costs.” The…
Raising the bar
What comes next for the Orchard of the Future? By Glenneis Kriel and Wiehann Steyn. The Orchard of the Future programme was considered revolutionary when it was launched in 2010, but innovations associated with the participating orchards have since become…
Train your trees for the future
Tree architecture and training systems of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. By Grethe Bestbier. If the orchard is seen as a jigsaw puzzle, then tree architecture is the most important piece. According to Dr Alberto Dorigoni, pomologist at the Edmund Mach…