Jan Theron
Jan Theron grew up on an apple and pear farm in Vyeboom, near Grabouw. “I’ve been in a farm set-up my whole life and always found it interesting. It’s why I decided to study horticulture at Stellenbosch University,” he says.…
Chad van Wyk
After finishing high school in Bellville, Cape Town, Chad van Wyk started working in customer service. He was three years in when he flipped a coin to decide whether to accept a permanent, career-building position at a big corporation or…
Rest-breaking alternatives for apples and pears
The search continues for chemical rest-breaking alternatives to hydrogen cyanamide for South Africa’s pome-fruit industry. By Jenny Underhill. Rest-breaking agents stimulate and synchronise bud break in fruit crops that do not receive adequate winter chilling to overcome dormancy. Since most…
Estimating water consumption in Japanese plums
A project comparing three methods to determine water use finds that they provide similar results. By Jenny Underhill. “We could estimate the water requirements of plums based on international work, but there wasn’t a dedicated study on plums in South…