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Ebenhaeser Nurseries being run by resource limited producers make headway
Danie van Schalkwyk, ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij, Stellenbosch
Key words: Technology transfer, grapevine, grafting, nurseries.
In 1997 ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij started to train resource limited producers in Ebenhaeser and Saron in the skill of vine grafting and the establishment and management of grapevine nurseries. This project is being funded by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and Winetech. Ebenhaeser is situated in the Olifants River area amidst one of the biggest viticultural areas in South Africa, while Saron is in the midst of the table grape cultivation area at Halfmanshof.
Photo 1: Eddie le Grange of ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij explains the grafting process to Gert Brand, John Mannel, Booi Fortuin, Jan Miggel and Boetie Miggel of Ebenhaeser Eenheidsboerdery.
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Saron is also one of the biggest sources of expert vine grafters who have the potential to make a success of their nursery business. So far considerable success has been achieved at the two Ebenhaeser nurseries. Although the grafters quickly mastered the grafting practice (Photo 1), the success achieved by some of the nurseries over the years has been quite variable due to the lack of experience. Practices that contributed to the wavering track record were mainly incorrect water management and socio-economic changes that sometimes caused the focus to shift to other activities.
The people of the Ebenhaeser Eenheidsboerdery showed right from the start, however, that they could maintain good nursery management practices (Photo 2 & 3). They quickly mastered water management and also realised the importance of good weed control. Good disease control practices were also applied throughout, with the result that downy mildew and oidium were successfully limited over the years. From time to time some of the other small farmer nurseries struggled with disease control. Although the number of marketable vines was quite variable, the Ebenhaeser Nursery achieved a high measure of success in some years (Photo 4). The absence of commercial nurseries in the
Photo 2: Gert Brand and John Mannel view their nursery at Ebenhaeser Eenheidsboerdery before the nursery vines have to be topped.
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Koekenaap, Lutzville and Vredendal area that market vines directly to the producers, has created the ideal opportunity for Ebenhaeser to establish and manage commercial vine nurseries. Most of the vines established in this area are bought from nurseries in Wellington. This situation partly contributed to the fact that up to now, the Ebenhaeser nurseries have been able to sell all their vines in the Lutzville/Koekenaap area. The vines grown in these nurseries are classed strictly according to the Vine Improvement Association (VIA) guidelines and comply with all the requirements. The standard of the vines improves annually in line with the improvement in the nurseries' management skills.
Photo 3: Resource limited nurserymen busy topping vines in the nursery of the Eenheidsboerdery (January 2004).
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At the start of the project there was little available capital to establish the nurseries, and uncertified grafting material was provided by ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij to the aspirant nurserymen for training in long groove grafting, callus and nursery management. To a certain extent this enabled them to accumulate funds to purchase their own grafting material. In due course the level of expertise and financial situation improved to such an extent that both nurseries at Ebenhaeser were able to buy their own certified grafting material in 2003. The fact that grafting material has to be collected in the Boland creates problems for communities such as these, who normally do not have the necessary transport facilities at their disposal. To overcome this problem, a rootstock foundation block was established on the farm belonging to the Ebenhaeser Eenheidsboerdery in October 2001, with financial aid from DEVCO (Photo 5). Certified Richter 99 RY 179 and 101-14 AA 219 rootstocks were established to provide resource limited producers in Ebenhaeser with sufficient quantities of certified rootstock grafted shoots for their own use.
Photo 4: Petrus Hahn of Ebenhaeser Nursery in one of his nurseries.
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Initially a fair amount of grazing damage was caused by roaming goats and hares, but early in 2004 the mother block was fenced in to prevent future damage of this nature. The first rootstock grafted shoots from this vineyard were harvested in July 2003 (Photo 6). Although the people at the Eenheidsboerdery were quite familiar with the requirements of certified grafted shoots, this was the very first time that they had to cut the shoots and class them as grafted and plant shoots according to the thickness and length prescribed by the VIA (Photo 7a &7b). These grafted shoots were used for their own nurseries during the 2003 grafting. It was the first time they had to graft the grafting material originating from various sources and subsequently establish them in the nursery. More advanced courses
Photo 5: Rootstock foundation block at Ebenhaeser Eenheidsboerdery established for the production of certified rootstock grafted shoots.
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and additional training in the management of the rootstock foundation block, as well as compliance with regulations pertinent to the production of certified root stock material in terms of the Vine Improvement Scheme, will again be offered in 2004/2005.
So far these resource limited nurseries could only afford to graft 10 000 vines per annum, but the rootstock foundation block should alleviate this problem. The rootstocks showed vigorous growth in 2003/2004 and should produce approximately 20 000 to 30 000 grafted shoots in 2004. These nurseries can therefore be enlarged to such an extent that transport costs of rootstock grafting material from Paarl may be eliminated. When the rootstock foundation block is in full production, it should produce approximately 100 000 grafted shoots annually, which should boost the availability of grafted vines in this area considerably. The income generated from the sale of the vines, is the property of the Ebenhaeser community and is managed by an elected committee.
Photo 6: The first crop of rootstock shoots from the rootstock foundation block of the Ebenhaeser Eenheidsboerdery are being offloaded at the store to be cut up.
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Although the two Ebenhaeser nurseries do not yet graft commercially, the surrounding commercial farmers are interested in the plant material. Both nurseries are registered with the VIA and are advertised as registered nurseries in WineLand. The success that has been achieved with the project proves that existing technology may be used to relieve the poverty in the previously disadvantaged communities, while addressing the needs of commercial farmers in the area. If anybody wants to contact the group, they may be phoned at (027) 217-1239.
For more information contact Danie van Schalkwyk at (021) 809-3156 or email vschalkwykd@arc.agric.za.
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Photo 7a & b: Nurserymen from Ebenhaeser Eenheidsboerdery cutting up rootstock grafted shoots.
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