Fungi breathe new life into barren avo orchards

Faced with wilting, unproductive avocado trees, Limpopo farmer Christa Rebel decided to replace them with another crop. In the meantime, however, she planted strawberries on the orchard floor. Then, serendipitously, she discovered nature’s remarkable ability to repair itself. Lindi Botha reports.

- Christa Rebel

For a novice farmer, finding the best cultivation methods can be a costly, and lengthy, process of trial and error. Christa Rebel, who farms near Tzaneen in Limpopo, found herself at her wits’ end when trying to revive an avocado orchard.

“These Hass avocado orchards were on the farm when we bought it in 2016. They really weren’t in a good condition, as the previous owners were more lifestyle farmers and didn’t pay them much attention.

“I tried to revive them, but nothing seemed to work. I believe in an organic way of farming, which makes it tricky considering the lack of chemical assistance. But because I was struggling, I resorted to injecting the tree trunks with an ammonium sulphate solution. It was such a horrible process! Every time I tried to squirt the liquid into the tree, it would squirt back on me.”

FAST FACTS

Mycorrhizae fungi can greatly improve soil condition, leading to better yields.

Host plants of these fungi can be planted in a field to increase the fungi population.

Limpopo farmer Christa Rebel planted strawberries, which are good hosts for mycorrhizae fungi, under her avocado trees and saw improvement in the trees within months.

With the trees continuing to shed leaves and not bearing fruit, Rebel eventually gave up on the orchard and resolved to use the land for another crop. Constrained by cost and time, however, and not wanting to leave the soil bare, she decided to plant strawberries on the orchard floor as an interim measure.

PERMACULTURE