Going nuts for nuts and berries

In response to the massive global growth in demand for so-called superfoods such as blueberries and nuts, South African production of these products is expanding significantly. Farmer’s Weekly thus published several articles during 2018 that detailed some

getting ready for expansion (right) Rosle Boerdery is the first and only farm to plant blueberries in Groblersdal, Limpopo. According to PP Roets, farm manager at Rosle Boerdery, about 100ha are planted to this crop, and the business plans to treble this quantity ( FW, 6 July).

jumping on the export bandwagon

(far right) The demand for almonds, as well as other nuts, is expected to grow over the long term.

Stephan and Hans le Roux of Amanteco Almonds say that South Africa has the ability to produce top-quality almonds and capitalise on this expected increase in demand. Their almond-processing facility in Robertson has the potential to turn South Africa into a leading almond exporter ( FW, 21 September).

“The Americans have spent a lot on expanding the market for pecans, which is something we’ll have to do here, as well as to ensure we have demand for the increased supply. Fortunately, India and Asia have shown a keen interest in pecans, so we’re confident that there will always be a market to export pecans.”

– Shane Eva, farm manager for Halls and Sons in Mbombela, said global pecan production is expected to increase drastically over the next decade, and South African producers will have to access new export markets to continue earning good returns for their nuts ( FW, 4 May).

“One kilogra m mor e nuts per tr ee makes a mass ive difference, so you want to get optimal pro duction fro m every tr ee.”

– According to Jaco Prinsloo of Loskop ICT, who works alongside Martin Taljaard of Carbomax to provide drone imaging technology solutions to macadamia farmers, certain things are non-negotiable for farmers managing macadamia orchards. These farmers must know their exact tree count, as well as be able to work yields/tree back to kilograms of dry nut-in-shell. They also need to ascertain where problems lie so that they can address them rapidly and effectively ( FW, 16 March).

“Currently, there’s no single farm that can make up a whole order, so supermarkets go from farm to farm to get enough bulk. This is time-consuming and costly. My business model means I can produce berries at a lower cost as I have bulk, and the buyer can buy from one farm only.”

– The opportunity presented by the fast-growing demand for blueberries on the domestic and global markets prompted Charles Rossouw, owner of Rosle Boerdery in the Loskop Valley of Limpopo, to plant blueberries on a large scale in the warmer climate of this province after investigating low-chill varieties ( FW, 6 July).