Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
Sunflower hybrids with a performance record you can count on!
Corné van der Westhuizen, an agronomist in North West for Pannar Seed, explains the different planting and harvesting stages for sunflower, as well as how the Pannar sunflower product range is ideal for planting under any conditions.
comparison with apples and pears, for which you would have to wait another year,” Mario says.
The family also planted 30ha of pears, primarily Early Bon Chretien, Flamingo, Rosemarie, Rosemarie Select, Packham’s Triumph, Forelle and Abate Fetel.
“We established our first Abate Fetel orchards in 2010 on BP1 rootstocks, and actually considered pulling them out five years later. Fortunately, though, production picked up over the past three years, as we learnt to manage the variety better. It’s a highly demanding variety, requiring trunk girdling, synthetic growth regulators and harsh pruning to produce good-quality fruit,” says Mario.
He adds that if he established new Abate Fetel orchards, he’d plant them on BA29 rootstocks.
Since 2013, they have also established 12ha of apples to diversify market and production risks. “The market for peaches is highly unstable, but then again you also seldom have a year when both apples and pears perform well,” Mario explains.
While climatic conditions are generally the same between the Warm and Koue Bokkeveld, the latter experiences more cold units in winter, rendering it a region that is much better suited for apple and pear production.
However, the family has overcome this hurdle by focusing on apple varieties that have a lower chill requirement, such as the Royal Beaut, Panorama Golden, Big Bucks and Louterwater Granny Smith.
Farms in the Warm Bokkeveld region have the advantage of hitting the market when it is relatively empty, up to two weeks earlier than those in the Koue Bokkeveld.
The old peach orchards were planted at a density of 5m x 2m, whereas the new orchards are planted at a density of 4,5m x 2m. The apple and pear orchards were initially planted at a density of 4,5m x 1,5m, but the farm has since moved to higher-density plantings of 4m x 1,5m.
The apples are trained and planted on rootstocks such as M7 and 793, depending on the variety; while the pears are planted on rootstocks BP1, Calleryana and BA29, with primarily the Forelle, Rosemarie and Early Bon Chretien being trained.
IRRIGATION
Most of the peach trees are under drip irrigation, as it is more water efficient and requires less maintenance than micro-sprinklers. It also results in fewer problems with weeds, because water delivery is concentrated on smaller areas, according to Mario.
Micro-sprinklers, however, are used in the apple and most of the pear orchards, as this form of irrigation can be used to protect fruit against sun damage and heat stress by creating a cool microclimate within the orchards. Microsprinklers can also be used to improve fruit colour by irrigating orchards at night, says Mario.
Irrigation is computerised and adjusted according to climatic conditions, tensiometer readings, and the physical analysis of the soil. “While new technology has made production much easier, you still need to physically check the soil to ensure the readings are correct,” he says.
Fertiliser is supplied via irrigation to the orchards based on the trees’ requirements during different stages of production.
“We use consultants to help us with our fertiliser programme, pest management and orchard planning. Production has become so specialised and margins so tight, that farmers simply cannot afford to rely on their own instincts and skills alone,” Mario believes.
REAPING THE FRUIT
The Du Plessises’ financial situation greatly improved as new orchards came into production, allowing them to buy a neighbouring farm, Parys, in 2017.
Aurora won the Ceres Fruit Growers’ Supplier of the Year and best Bon Chretien pear producer awards in 2015 and has, in fact, won the latter every year since. It has also won awards for the best Packham’s Triumph and Rosemarie pears and, in 2020, the supplier took home awards for the highest income per hectare for pears and the most accurate harvest forecast.
Farming next to Nduli has turned out to have both pros and cons. On the one hand, it presents access to a pool of workers within walking distance of the farm. More than two-thirds of Aurora’s staff live in Nduli, and some of these people have worked with them for over 15 years.
“I think people like working here because they are near their homes, and because we invest a lot in training to equip our staff to do a good job,” Kitty says.
The staff are not only sent on field days and courses, but are also pulled into discussions with consultants to ensure they understand how and why things should be done in a specific way.
The fact that people can see what is happening on the farm is one of the greatest disadvantages of being situated so close to the settlement. Kitty explains that, because of this, their labourers are the first to stay home due to intimidation and victimisation during strikes and riots. Theft, as on most other farms located near a town or informal settlement, is another challenge. “We have the support of most of the Nduli community, but there are a few bad apples,” Kitty says.
Peaches are at the top of the list of items that are stolen from the farm. Therefore, security guards are employed during the harvest to safeguard the produce.
Training poles are also high on the list. “We have switched from using 3m and 4m poles to 2,4m poles, and have started planting some of our pear cultivars without training in an attempt to address the pole theft. Fruit trees, in general, are also planted as far away as possible from the informal settlement,” Mario says.
He adds that their pump houses look like jail cells, with all the burglar bars and other safety measures taken to protect them.
While many things did not go as planned for the family, in retrospect, Kitty can see that things definitely worked out for the better in the end.
“You tend to get blinded by your problems when you are in a difficult situation, but then years later you have the joy of seeing the bigger picture. We probably never would have bought the farm if Marius did not lose his job, and we might never have survived those first eight years if we weren’t so desperate to make things work. Failure simply was not an option for us,” concludes Kitty.
Email Mario du Plessis at mario@breede.co.za.
MOST OF THE PEACH TREES ARE UNDER WATER-EFFICIENT DRIP IRRIGATION, WHICH REQUIRES LESS MAINTENANCE
The Pannar sunflower stable indisputably offers the best genetic potential and technology on the market. It tops the Agricultural Research Council’s trials year after year, with six out of the top 10 hybrids in the 2019/2020 season.
These hybrids offer excellent yield potential at all yield levels as well as superior oil content.
With exceptional stability under varying conditions, these hybrids are widely adapted.
The Pannar sunflower package includes options for earlier planting and earlier flowering dates to help manage the risk of Sclerotinia infection.
Technology options include conventional and Pannar brand sunflower hybrids with the Clearfield ® Plus trait, as well as a hybrid high in oleic acid.
New conventional hybrid
The PAN 7170 is a new conventional addition to the Pannar stable. PAN 7170 is agronomically similar to PAN 7100, but is slightly quicker flowering.
Both hybrids are slightly quicker than PAN 7080, which means that the hybrids complement each other in a package and thus help to better manage the risk of possible Sclerotinia infection.
Although PAN 7170 flowers slightly earlier, its grain filling period is slightly longer than that of PAN 7100, which is beneficial for PAN 7170’s yield potential and oil content.
When planting must take place later in the season, PAN 7170 is a very good choice. PAN 7170 has better Alternaria tolerance than the other two conventional hybrids.
New pann ar hybrid with clearfield ® plus trait
PAN 7180CLP is the Clearfield ® Plus conversion of the well-known PAN 7080 and has the same base genetics.
The Pannar brand sunflower hybrids with the Clearfield ® Plus trait offer the benefit of an alternative weed control and crop rotation strategy. Euro-Lightning ® Plus herbicide provides effective postemergence control of a broad spectrum of grass and broadleaf weeds.
However, keep in mind that Pannar brand sunflowers with the Clearfield ® Plus trait are only registered for use with Euro-Lightning ® Plus herbicide (L10316).
Last season’s trial results show that PAN 7180CLP achieved the same yield performance as PAN 7080. However, it offers some agronomic improvements in terms of Alternaria and even Sclerotinia tolerance.
Significantly fewer Sclerotinia problems were experienced on the parental lines.
PAN 7180CLP replaces PAN 7156CLP. PAN 7180CLP also complements the Clearfield ® Plus hybrid package very well with its good yield potential and agronomic properties.
Together with PAN 7102CLP and PAN 7160CLP, the three hybrids form a well-rounded package that can help to better manage the risk of Sclerotinia infection.
In the Clearfield ® Plus package, PAN 7102CLP flowers first over a short period (10 days), PAN 7160CLP flowers second but over a much longer period (up to 18 to 21 days) and PAN 7180CLP flowers last, providing optimal Sclerotinia management.
The number of days to physiological maturity follows the same sequence as set out above for the flowering dates.
This means that the hybrids’ harvest window is spread over a slightly longer period.
Ease of harvesting
Sunflower sometimes has a way of staying wet and then drying down completely within a day or two to below 8%, which in turn makes combining very difficult as excess plant
material accumulates on the combine’s header, causing grinding and impeding the flow of material into the combine. When planting a package of
PAN 7180CLP, PAN 7102CLP and PAN 7160CLP, the harvesting process is significantly simplified as the sunflowers dry off over a longer period.
THE BEST STAGE TO HARVEST
Sunflowers are physiologically mature when the back of the head turns from green to yellow and the circumferential bracts begin to brown and become brittle.
The crop can be harvested when the back of the heads is still slightly moist. Losses during the harvesting process are thereby significantly reduced.
The harvesting process can start when the moisture content of the seed is at 12,5%.
However, keep in mind that sunflower seeds that need to be stored must have a moisture content of less than 10%, otherwise fungi can build up within 48 hours of the seed being dumped in a heap.
There is also a risk that the seed may spontaneously combust at higher moisture percentages.
Optimal moisture content for storage is 9,5% if the seed must be stored in a silo for months.
It must also be continuously aerated or moved from silo to silo to prevent the build-up of fungi.