AUTUMN ACTION!

AS AMERICAN AS APPLE PIE...

Chatting to?Kaitlyn Thornton?from Washington State on the Lucentlands Media ?podcast about the state's apple industry was extremely interesting. Kaitlyn's enthusiasm and passion for the industry have gained her a truly massive social media following. We were honoured that she took the time to chat with us and we hope you enjoy the content!

Kaitlyn also mentions the Cosmic Crisp apple, bred by Washington State University. This apple has rapidly gained popularity with growers in the US, and is now the the 10th biggest variety in the US. It is also growing in South Africa, where it is managed by TopFruit .

THE APPLE SEASON IS IN FULL SWING

South Africa's apple season is currently underway. See our article below about apple variety management and evaluation in South Africa.

Apple variety breeding and management in South Africa

The South African apple industry is more than a century old, and although the variety composition of the South African apple industry has not changed much in the last decade, with more than 80% of the South African crop is comprised of six varieties, namely Golden Delicious, Royal Gala/ Gala, Cripps Pink/Pink Lady, Granny Smith, Fuji and Topred/Starking, new varieties and strains are making inroads on this status quo.?

Culdevco markets locally bred apple varieties

The South African apple industry has its own deciduous fruit breeding programme which includes apples, within the government’s Agricultural Research Council (ARC). These apples are owned by ARC and commercialized by Culdevco (Pty) Ltd which is owned by South African deciduous producer groups. Culdevco Manager Mishkaat Anderson explains that Culdevco is commercializing a range of Afri apple varieties with low chill requirements. The range includes African Carmine, Afri-Rose, Afri-StarAfri-glo, and Afri-Blush. As the low chill requirement makes it possible to grow these apples in climates warmer than traditional apple production regions, they are assisting apple producers in regions where growers are facing the weather challenges associated with climate change. Anderson added that these varieties are proving popular with growers in South Africa and other Southern African countries. In addition to orchards in the northern provinces of South Africa, these varieties have made it possible for farmers to produce apples in Zimbabwe and Namibia. As these apples ripen as early as mid-December, they enter an undersupplied local market up to two months before any other locally produced apples and the production of these varieties is increasing in Southern Africa.?

Intellectual property management of imported varieties in South Africa

The introduction of new imported varieties to the South African apple industry from abroad is undertaken by the three main variety intellectual property management organizations namely TopFruit, Sapo Trust, and Stargrow.?

TopFruit

TopFruit is a commercial company that introduces new fruit varieties into Southern Africa from international breeders. The focuses on intellectual property management, variety development, brand development, and marketing initiatives. Established in 1983, TopFruit is one of the pioneering companies in this field in South Africa. The company offers growers a wide range of services, from importing plant material to marketing commercialized fruit brands. In addition to the well-known Pink Lady?, JOYA? and KIKU? apple brands and varieties, a selection of the other varieties/brands managed by TopFruit SASSY TM, SWEETIE TM, Jazz TM, Envy TM, Cosmic Crisp?, Ingored – Story?, RubyFrost TM and Snap Dragon TM.

SAPO

SAPO Trust is a business trust organization owned by and serving South Africa’s deciduous fruit industries, including the apple industry. SAPO is a plant improvement entity focused on plant health and plant genetics. The organization manages over 350 deciduous fruit varieties on behalf of more than 40 local and international plant breeder organizations in South Africa. SAPO manages a wide range of prominent international apple varieties such as Golden Delicious and Granny Smith, as well as promising new varieties such as Maribelle/Lola?. SAPO also manages a range of South African apple varieties or mutations, which includes Bigbucks, Shortie, Royal Beaut, Fuji Royal and Parys Granny Smith.

See Maribelle and Parys Granny Smith with some star treatment below! ?

Stargrow

The Stargrow Group consists of a group of companies that include tree nurseries and variety development and commercialization of varieties and the management of variety intellectual property rights, adding value to production on the farms of growers who plant them. The company takes care of the commercialization of varieties under its management, both locally in South Africa and internationally.?

Promising international apple varieties managed by Stargrow are Jeromine and Decarli Gala and Stargrow also manages the locally bred apple variety SparkleTM.

Provar provides impartial variety evaluation services.

Provar, a privately-owned, independent new fruit cultivar and rootstock evaluator and data centre was established in 2013 to provide growers with an independent evaluation service of new varieties and their suitability for local production. Provar’s objective and impartial feedback about new varieties enables growers to minimise risks by making informed choices regarding new varieties.

Commercial Research and Development

Technical advisors in the apple industry stress the importance of research and development for the successful introduction of new apple varieties. The variety intellectual property management entities introduce new varieties to South Africa and offer evaluation and support services to growers. Some of the export companies, such as Delecta Fruit (PTY) LTD , also have test blocks of new varieties that are tested and evaluated on behalf of their growers.??

PLANTING THE WHEAT FIELDS

Last week, the Lucentlands team visited growers in the wheat fields of the Swartland district.

Our daily bread relies on wheat farmers to have faith to plant seeds and hope for rain during the winter months ahead. Oom (Uncle) Alwyn below is 83 and has been planting wheat for 65 years. We should all give thanks to people like Alwyn who put food on our tables.

The wheat farmers also use some pretty awesome machinery to do the job! Here is one of the images of a state-of-the-art John Deer tractor and sowing machinery at work in the planting process.

Above is an explainer of the wheat planting process.

AUTUMN IS HERE IN ALL ITS GLORY

The Autumn colours around us are a clear message that Winter is imminent and farmers are preparing for the winter season. While the grape season has passed, the grape vines still give us a spectacular show in autumn. This photo was taken in the Hex River Valley during late Autumn two years ago.

Thanks again to each and every follower, reader or viewer, we appreciate the support.

This the next one!

??Dewald Kirsten ???? & ?? Louise Brodie