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A Technical Guide for Wine Producers
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RECENT ARTICLES | WYNBOER HOME
Resource Limited Producers In Ebenhaeser Establish A Rootstock Mother Block For Their Nursery Industry
Since 1997 ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij has been involved in the financial support provided by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and Winetech to train resource limited producers in Ebenhaeser and Saron to establish a nursery industry in these two communities. So far reasonably successful nurseries have been established in the two communities and vines have been marketed to commercial producers in the vicinity of Lutzville and Malmesbury. In 2000 the nursery of Mr Petrus Hahn of Ebenhaeser was registered as the "Ebenhaeser Nursery" for the production of vines. The purpose of the training, however, is for these nurseries to produce certified vines.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned goal, DEVCO has allocated funds to purchase 10 000 certified rootstocks and scion material for grafting by these producers. One nursery at Ebenhaeser and one at Saron have been registered with the Wine Grape Improvement Association in November 2001 for the production of certified grafted vines.
In order to provide the nurseries with their own certified rootstock grafting material, DEVCO has allocated funds to establish a 0,675 ha rootstock motherblock on the Ebenhaeser Trust Farm at Ebenhaeser. The soil on which the rootstocks were established was prepared with the help of a D9 caterpillar tractor and during this action, the nutritional status of the soil was adjusted. In the course of October 2001, resource limited producers also established the rootstocks under the supervision of researchers of ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij (Photo 1). Mr Danie van Schalkwyk of the Nietvoorbij Institute will give training in the management and pruning of rootstocks in conjunction with the Plant Improvement Section of the KWV.
The purpose of the mother block is to enable resource limited producers to produce certified rootstock grafting material for their own use and so to cultivate certified vines for producers in the Lutzville/Vredendal vicinity (Photo 2). This project is conducted in conjunction with Winetech, the Matzikama Municipality and the Vredendal office of the Provincial Department of Agriculture, Western Cape. Income from the sale of the rootstocks will be ploughed back into the Ebenhaeser community via the Trust farm so as to contribute to the prosperity of the community. The nurseries, in turn, generate employment and provide labourers and the nursery owners with an income.
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