Farmer’s Weekly – 23 August 2019

marketspreferwhite,green
andyellow,aswellaslight
anddarkpinkflowers.
Morerecently,therehas
beenanincreaseddemand
forredCymbidiumorchids
intheEuropeanmarkets.
Thiswasunthinkable 20
yearsago,saysWilferd.
Thenurseryproduceshundreds
ofdifferentvarieties,withmany
thousandsofplantsgrowing
intheirfivegreenhouses,
spanningabout5,6ha.
“Wehavedevelopedmany
newvarieties,butthegeneral
ruleis thatthenewvariety
shouldalwaysbebetterthan
bothparentvarieties,”hesays.
“Inotherwords,it shouldeither
reduceproductioncostsinsome
way,orfilla newmarketgap.”

Themaingeneratheygroware
Cymbidiumforcutflowersandpot
plants,andCattleyaandOncidium
forpotand/orhangingplants.
Africanspecies,suchasAnsellia,
AngraecumandAerangis, are
producedashangingplants.
“Wedon’tproducemany
tropicalspecies,sincethat
wouldrequireheating,and
thesespeciesareproduced
verycheaplyintheFarEast.”
Nurseriesnotonlyhave
toensuretheysupplythe
marketwiththerightflowers
oftherightqualityattheright
time,theyalsohavetojuggle
environmentalconcerns.
“Orchidswon’tbeeaten,butwe
havetocomplywithstrictexport
standards,whichhasresultedin
usnolongerusinganypesticides.
“Instead,wemakeuse
ofpredatoryandparasitic
organismstokeeppestproblems
anddiseasesundercontrol.”
Effectivemicrobes,andhumic
andfulvicacids,areincreasingly
used,alongwithliquidfertiliser,
toboostplanthealth.

Globalwarmingis a concernin

someoftheirmarkets,butthe

carbonfootprintoftheirflowers

is generallylowerthanthatof

Europeancompetitorsbecause

thenurserydoesnotuseheating.

“Transportconstitutesthe

biggestpartofourcarbon

footprint,butourfootprintis still

lowerthanthatofEuropean-and

NewZealand-producedflowers.”

Theiradvantageovertheir

biggestcompetitorinthe

SouthernHemisphere,New

Zealand,is thatSouthAfrica

is closertothemainmarkets.

Lowlabourcostsusedtobe

a marketadvantage,butthe

introductionofthenational

minimumwagehasnecessitated

a changeinoperations.

Inaddition,Wilferdsaysworker

efficiencyhasnotkeptupwith

higherwages:“Weemployover

40 peopleandheavilyinvest

intrainingtoensuretheyare

abletodotheirjobswell.In

partsoftheFarEast,however,

remunerationis muchlower

andtheworkforceis much

betterskilledinourindustry.”

Waterhasbecomea major

concern,especiallyfollowing

thedroughtintheWestern

Cape.“Mostofourwateris

sourcedfromfourboreholes,

butthequalityofthewateris

notthatgood,sowehavebeen

desalinatingforabout 10 years

already.Wehaveaccesstowater

fromtheVoëlvleiDamfrom

MaytoOctober,butthiswater

worksoutjustasexpensive

asourboreholewater.

“Wehavefittedvariable-speed

drivecontrollerstothepumpsto

reduceelectricitycosts,”hesays.

Theirplansforthefutureareto

continuouslyworkatimproving

productionefficiencies:“Ifyou

wanttoremainsustainable,you

constantlyneedtoseekways

tostreamlineoperationsto

reduceproductioncostswhile

maintainingorimproving

productquality,”saysWilferd.

• EmailWilferdDuckittat info@
  duckittnurseries.com,or phonethe
  nurseryon 021492 2606. Visit the
  website at duckittnurseries.com. ▪FW

FEATURE Orchids

South AfricA iS

cloSer to mAin

mArketS thAn

new zeAlAnd

FROMTOP:

• Plantsaregrown
  fromtissueculture
  thatismultiplied
  forthenursery
  byalaboratory
  inDarling.


• Insecttraps
  areusedfor
  monitoringpests.


• Ahugevarietyof
  hangingorchids
  isalsoproduced
  atthenursery.

30 farmer’sweekly 23 august 2019