Production tips from a top pome fruit farm

Attention to detail has helped Welgemeen Boerdery achieve top honours for its Golden Delicious and Kanzi apples, and Abate Fetel pears. Hannes and Sakkie Hanekom explained their approach to Glenneis Kriel.

- Glenneis Kriel

In late November 2022, Welgemeen Boerdery, which produces pome fruit in the Witzenberg Valley near Ceres in the Western Cape, was honoured by Ceres Fruit Growers (CFG) with awards for the best Golden Delicious and Kanzi apples, as well as the award for the best Abate Fetel pears.

For Hannes Hanekom, who co-owns the farm with his father Izak and brothers Sakkie and Loutjie, the Golden Delicious award was the most significant, considering that more of these apples are produced in South Africa than any other.

“Golden Delicious is one of the oldest commercial apple varieties still being planted in the country. For as long as I can remember, people have been saying its market is disappearing. But for us, it has proved to be a stalwart, particularly when the European market is flat, as most of these apples are sold locally and in Africa,” explains Hannes.

“In a season like the one we’re currently in, when hail damage causes a large percentage of fruit to be diverted to the juice market, the high yields of Golden Delicious can help orchards to at least break even.” Alternative varieties of apple have emerged over the years, but none so far has been able to top Golden Delicious as the yellow variety of choice.

Opal, for example, which is a natural crossing of Golden Delicious with Topaz, has excellent production potential, is resistant to apple scab and moderately resistant to powdery mildew, but is struggling to gain a foothold in the market.

Hannes explains that Golden Delicious are picked and sent to the market while they’re still relatively green. Strikingly bright-yellow Opals, on the other hand, are picked and dispatched when yellow, so people think they are overripe.