An eighth-leaf block on MM.109 at Kromfontein’s Bergsig site is the top-performing Cripps Red orchard at Dutoit Agri in the Western Cape.
By Anna Mouton
“Kromfontein is the first farm that Dutoit Agri owned in the Koue Bokkeveld – everything started here,” said horticultural adviser Erik Conradie. Kromfontein has about 500 hectares of deciduous fruit spread across five adjoining production units. One of the 2024 Hortgro field-day orchards was at Kromfontein’s Bergsig unit. “Bergsig was an incredible development,” said Conradie. “They established 127 hectares within three years. It was their first genuine 3.5 x 1.25-metre planting of tall slender spindles, and it yields 100 tonnes per hectare every year.” He reminded the field-day participants of the limited rootstock choice in 2010 when Bergsig was planned. Hence, the development was established on the relatively vigorous M.7 and MM.109. The 10-hectare field-day orchard was planted on MM.109 in 2016. “We paid a lot of school fees here,” recalls Conradie, who was involved from the start. “It’s not the ideal rootstock but it’s successful, which goes to show what you can achieve with the right inputs.” Kromfontein Estate Manager Arno Marais noted that the Cripps Red scion helps – this cultivar lends itself to control, whereas Fuji on MM.109 at Bergsig has been less tractable.
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Old but still gold
Field days often focus on the latest technology, but Conradie pointed out that growers shouldn’t neglect the older orchards. “There are still a lot of these orchards in the industry. They have to pay the bills and take us forward,” he said. The Bergsig field-day orchard certainly holds its own. Conradie explained that Dutoit Agri ran a competition in 2023/4 for their Western Cape orchards. Their technical advi- sers nominated four orchards for each cultivar. Apples from these orchards were not sorted in the block but went straight to the packhouse for immediate packing, to provide accurate data on the fruit yields and quality of each entrant. “This orchard was the winner for Cripps Red,” said Conradie. “Its farm-gate income before production costs was north of R1 million per hectare.” Orchard performance is even more impressive, considering that only 86% of the fruit made it to the packhouse. Strong winds just before harvest resulted in heavy fruit drop. Conradie was fortunate to be involved in most of the 10 winning orchards. “The theme that runs through all those orchards is you must have tonnages,” he emphasised. “You must have 90–100 tonnes per hectare – lower than that, and the sums don’t add up. “And yes, you must also have the quality, and it’s possible to produce good quality fruit with high tonnages if you have the right tree architecture.” The field-day orchard yielded 122 tonnes per hectare in 2024. “It started with 45 tonnes per hectare in fourth leaf,” said Floris Steenkamp, the production manager. “Then it jumped to 65, and it’s been around 100 tonnes per hectare every year since.”
Protective netting and reflective mulch
Red colour development was challenging for the South African apple industry in the 2023/4 season, as the necessary cold fronts and cool nights failed to materialise in most regions. The field-day orchard was affected. Nonetheless, it achieved Class 1 pack-outs of 78%. Optimising Class 1 pack-outs in Cripps Red is a balancing act between light exposure and sunburn prevention. For three years, the field-day orchard has been covered in white draped nets from after thinning until harvest. Marais believes early deployment of the nets is crucial. “In my opinion, Cripps Red’s sunburn doesn’t develop toward the end of the season. They burn long before this, and when the fruit should colour, the damaged peel can’t make pigment.” Dutoit Agri plans to cover the entire Bergsig with permanent nets. Besides reducing sunburn, the nets serve as hail protection. Less light exposure under nets is known to decrease red colour development, so the Bergsig team countered shading in the lower parts of the canopy with reflective mulch. During the past season, they experimented with placing the reflective mulch three weeks before harvest in one section of the orchard and six weeks before in another. The red colour was significantly better in the section mulched six weeks before harvest, than three weeks before harvest. “The difference was like night and day,” said Steenkamp. Reflective mulch must be applied early for Cripps Red.” Conradie agrees. “The timing is important. Don’t wait until it’s too late, especially in a year when the climatic conditions are not good for colour development.” Leaf removal also proved effective at boosting red colour, but it’s impractical in trees under draped nets.
Managing the basics
Conradie encourages trunk renewal in the first and sometimes the second season, so that young trees grow strong, dominant leaders with enough well-balanced branches. He considers bending a necessity. “I think some growers try to avoid the labour cost of bending, but if you spend R1.2 million to put a new orchard in the ground, then R20 000–R30 000 a hectare for bending is really nothing,” commented Conradie. “Maybe other areas are different, but under our conditions, you must bend.” Rest-breaking treatments are applied annually. Renewal pruning started in year three and continues. Too-thick branches or those losing their fruitfulness are removed, and new ones are developed from their stubs. Cripps Red lends itself to spur renewal, so branches tend to have a longer productive life than those of, for example, Cripps Pink or Fuji. “We have to do something extra to get those Class 1 pack-outs that provide high incomes per hectare,” said Conradie. “We cover the trees and get more light with reflective mulch, but the basics – the tree architecture – must be right. And the issue is how to manage MM.109 under nets.” Up to now, prohexadione-calcium applications helped control vigour, but the trees’ current shoot lengths suggest they won’t need it in the coming season. Consistently high crop loads and appropriate nutrition are additional tools the Bergsig team uses to keep vegetative growth in check. Although the draped nets were introduced relatively recently, Conradie has always pursued an open canopy with good light distribution and prioritised regular renewal of fruiting wood. “I’ve been involved here from the start, and my biggest concern as a technical adviser is that we run out of light or high-quality fruit buds.” Fortunately, he needn’t worry about high-quality fruit buds for the coming season – bud quality is excellent. “We’re looking at another 100 tonnes,” smiled Conradie. “I think that’s proof that the tree architecture is not too bad.”
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Acknowledgements Thanks to Arno Marais and his team for hosting the orchard visit and Erik Conradie and Floris Steenkamp for manning the site.
The orchard at a glance Cultivar: Cripps Red Rootstock: MM.109 Size: 10 hectares Spacing: 3.5 x 1.25 metres Planted: 2016
