Pear Production in South Africa

Introduction

An opportunity to "seize the moment" and travel half-way around the world to observe another country's horticultural production, has left me with so many new impressions and renewed my enthusiasm towards fruit production. In this day and age of the new directions in agricultural, food safety, environmental issues, nutrient management, safety nets and other policies, it was refreshing to participate and interact at a meeting that focused on science and innovation that would assist growers in their production needs.

I recently attended the 9^th International Pear Symposium at Stellenbosch, South Africa this past February, 2004. Every four years, this meeting brings together over 120 researchers, extension and industry together representing most of the world's pear producing countries. The conference focused on several themes: the status of the pear industry for each continent, the evolution of pear training in South Africa, fruit quality, reproductive biology, breeding and evaluation, genetics and biotechnology, post harvest, plant systems, growth regulators, pest and disease management.

South Africa is a very modern country with a population of over 43 million people. Approximately 6 million people have European backgrounds while the rest of the country is made up of 11 different native tribes. South Africa has a Mediterranean type climate and is very rich in agriculture. World famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, located in the "Mother City" of Capetown, has the second highest diversity of plant material in the world. The tree fruit and grape production are found mainly in the Western Cape, which has 250 to 1000 chilling hours, while the tropical fruits, bananas, mangoes and other citrus are located further north.

Almost 60% of the pears, grapes and other tree fruits grown in the continent of Africa are grown in the country of South Africa. The production is found an hour from Capetown in higher elevations in valleys located in mountain ranges around the Tropic of Capricorn at 32º latitude.

South Africa is an important player in pear production and is one of the few countries that has increased its' production in the last 20 years

By comparison, Canada is much smaller in size for our main crops of grapes, peaches and pears (Table 2). In 1980, South Africa grew 17,300 acres but increased to 31,892 acres by 2002.

Issues and Challenges

• summers are very dry therefor they must irrigate
• soils are shallow, very low pH around 4.0 and low in micro-nutrients
• deep cultivation pre-planting is a must
• lack of chilling is big problem, pears need at least 600-700 hours, less for peach and grape
• poor growth results in years with low chilling hours
• wind is a problem so trees must have a support trellis (Figure 1)
• they must export up to 90% of their production
• the Rand, South Africa's currency has increased steadily in the past 2 years, which has affected their exports which also affects their profitability
• coddling moth is the main problem but mating disruption has been successful
• they still harvest by ladder and hand thin pears since there is no success chemical thinning
• need to develop new dwarfing rootstocks

Figure 1: Windbreaks and trellises

Success Stories and Advantages

• dams are located throughout the region which collect water during the winter rainy season
• they pay close attention to pre-planting such as ridged rows 30-40 cm high and adding mulch to improve organic matter (Figure 2)
• no fire blight
• no pear pyslla
• labour is inexpensive, costing $5 to pick a bin
• each worker can harvest 2-3 bins/day (spot picking for quality)
• have developed a size controlling rootstock which helps to control vigour
• are able to manipulate growth with girdling 10-14 days after bloom (which also improves fruit bud initiation), trickle irrigation, growth regulators and summer pruning
• pruning and training has evolved in the last fifty years from 110 trees per acre and an open centre to a central leader and spindle concept with over 500 trees per acre
• have several cultivars and an active breeding program for a red blushed pear
• the main cultivars are Packham's Triumph (8,936 acres), Bartlett (7,990 acres), Forelle (5,059 acres), Rosemarie (1,635 acres), Early Bartlett (1,603 acres), Bosc (1,593 acres) and Doyenne du Comice (1,065 acres)
• Golden Russet Bosc, Vermont Beauty and Abate Fetel are the new up and coming cultivars
• production tonnage has increased from 1990/91 - 208,900 tons to 2001/02 - 327,900 tons
• during the last ten years, local prices have increased by 71% and export prices have increased by 107%
• export 10 million cartons per year, mainly Packham's Triumph to Europe and the UK
• have a lab to determine an accurate harvest date testing over 40,000 pear samples in one of the main pear growing areas
• they use a "20 fruit" sample measuring fruit size, weight, colour, pressure, starch, seed colour, brix and acidity
• Wolfpack Packinghouse in Wolseley, is a dedicated pear packinghouse which packs pears from growers in four main growing areas
• pears are not colour sorted but weight sized on a dry line
• pears are sold under the grower's name which makes it easier to trace the product

Figure 2 - Detail to Planting

Summary

Much can be learned from an experience from the pear growing areas of South Africa. Tree training, trellises, detail to orchard establishment, hedgerows, summer pruning, irrigation, testing to predict an accurate harvest are just a few of the ideas that we can adapt here in Ontario. There are currently 6 sites of 30 acres of pears in a CanAdapt Cultivar, Training and Rootstock Trial, which are the ideal orchards to continue to adapt these principles and to demonstrate to growers.

Special Thanks

The opportunity to travel around the world and to bring back new ideas to share with Ontario growers was not possible without the financial support of the grower associations. I would like to thank the Ontario Tender Fruit Producer's Marketing Board (through the CanAdapt Pear Project, which is funded by the Agricultural Adaptation Council), the Niagara Peninsula Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Association and Kraft St. Davids Inc. They have been major supporters for many of my projects over the years assisting me to transfer the latest technology to the growers of Ontario.

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