Not All Shade Nets Are Created Equal

- Dharini Sivakumar

Avocado fruit quality is affected by physical damage caused by high temperatures, wind and hail during production.

An increase in fruit surface temperature and higher solar radiation, for example, can result in sunburn damage and affect the pack-out rate and marketability of the fruit.

Researchers at the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, under the leadership of Prof Dharini Sivakumar, conducted a study during the 2015/2016 season to investigate the effect of various photo-selective shade nets on marketable yield, sunburn, wind damage, ripening patterns and postharvest quality of ready-to-eat Hass avocados.

SUN DAMAGE