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Regional Postharvest Training Program
Postharvest Physiology and Technology of Horticultural Crops
Venue: Lusaka, Zambia
Date: 8 – 10 November 2011
Approximately one third of the food produced worldwide is lost or wasted, equating to around 1.3 billion tonnes of food annually. In industrialised countries the majority of wastage takes place at the consumer level, but in developing countries most of the food losses are on the farm and during transport and processing. These losses are consequently carried over to the consumer as an increase in the food price. Furthermore, poor post harvest practices not only cause loss and wastage but reduce quality and can in some cases result in contamination of food. Good postharvest practices can result in the farmer and distributor/ processor selling more products and the consumer at the end of the day receiving a safer, more nutritious longer lasting product. This improves the stability of food supply and opens up opportunities to export surplus.
In order to tackle this problem, ASNAPP (Agribusiness in Sustainable Natural African Plant Products), the Department of Horticultural Science at Stellenbosch  University, Stellenbosch University’s HOPE Project and USAID Southern Africa combined efforts to host this postharvest workshop in Lusaka, Zambia from 8-10 November 2011 to offer participants from Southern Africa the opportunity to learn how to mitigate postharvest losses and improve food safety and quality in African horticultural products. Speakers included Mr Luke Mbewe, Chief Executive Officer of the Zambian Export Growers Association (ZEGA) and Board Member of ASNAPP in Zambia, scientists from Stellenbosch University (Department of Horticultural Sciences and Department of Plant Pathology), ASNAPP, and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (USA) and a number of postharvest specialists from the South Africa horticulture industry.
Download: PDF (includes more photographs)
FruitgroScience - Best Overall Horticulturist Prize 2011
At the FruitgroScience
technical symposium, which took place from 7-9 June in 2011, the FruitgroScience prize for the best overall Horticulture student for 2010, was handed out to the combined winners Elri Franken (2nd from left on photo) and Schalk van der Merwe (far right on photo). The prize was handed over by Mr Hugh Campbell, the general manager of FruitgroScience (far left on photo) and Prof Karen Theron, Head of the Department of Horticultural Science (2nd from right on photo). Both Elri and Schalk are currently registered for MScAgric in Horticulture.
Elri is conducting research to advance the commercial use of Disa cultivars as cut flowers and potted plants, while Schalk is is investigating the problem of alterante bearing in late mandarins.
Horticultural Impressions
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"Research and Department Overview" feedback session
On the afternoon of the 25th October, the Department of Horticultural Science held a short "Research and Department  Overview" feedback session for various horticultural industries. The aim was to give a brief insight into the kind of research conducted at our Department, as well as presenting the dual role of the Department of Horticultural Science within an University and  Industry context. Several of our current MSc students presented their research, with topics ranging from: The effect of mulches on the soil's mineral nutrition and biological aspects; using technological techniques such as SmartFresh™ and packaging to improve the storage ability of tomatoes and broccoli; the effect of multi-scale packaging on the cooling and quality attributes of grapes; improving fruit set and size in pears and decreasing fruit splitting in citrus.
Prof. Karen Theron ended of the session by discussing the position of the Department of Horticultural Science within a University and Industry framework and  highlighted the discrepancy between the ample available jobs within the horticultural sector and the concerning, diminishing number of students studying horticulture. The afternoon's feedback session was closed with a few encouraging words from the Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Science, Prof. Mohammad Karaan. Afterwards all were invited to enjoy a few snacks and drinks.
The Department of Horticultural Science would sincerely like to thank all of you that took the time out your busy schedules and made an effort to attend this very first feedback session.
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Dr Wiehann Steyn joins Fruitgroscience as Programme Manager – Crop Production - Fruitgroscience, as part of the implementation of its revised strategy, is pleased to announce that Dr Wiehann Steyn, currently a senior lecturer at the Department of Horticultural Science at Stellenbosch University, will join Fruitgroscience on 2 May 2011 as programme manager and research leader ... read more >>> |
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Read the Latest on - BBC (Science and Nature)
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