Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
Good management counters impact of weather
Winners of this year’s Hex River Valley Table Grape competition did not allow foul weather to impact their entries.
Johan Hugo, chief inspector of PPECB, who headed the judging panel of the competition, said that there is a lot of theory behind the production of various of the new table grape varieties.
“Putting that theory into practice in 2023, when large damage was incurred through heavy rains and flooding, was not easy. Yet, cultivar owners were pleasantly surprised by the good root development and outcomes achieved by the top five producers in both the competition’s young and mature block categories.”
The competition received 13 entries in the young block division (vineyards of up to three years of age), with most of the varieties including AutumnCrisp, Crimson Seedless and Sweetglobe.
Jonathan Cronjé of
TGMS Plase scooped first place in this category with a block of Crimson seedless. Anton Bothma of Karsten Boerdery took the second place with a block of Sweetglobe, and Hanro van der Merwe of Kleinberg Kriegler came in third with a block of AutumnCrisp.
There were 23 contestants in the mature block competition, with Sweetglobe and Sweet Celebration accounting for most of the entries.
Gabriël de Villiers of Karsten Boerdery took first place in this division, with a block of Sweet Celebration that was planted in 2019. Kosie Meissenheimer of De Vlei
Boerdery came in second with a block of Sweet Celebration that was planted in 2013, and Johan Fouché of WK Beukes Boerdery was third with a block of AutumCrisp planted in 2021.
Hugo said the biggest challenge this season was pests, with various entries affected by insect, leafhopper, downy mildew and rot problems. –