Optimising cherry production and quality

Growing cherries in a suboptimal climate requires manipulating trees and temperatures. But with a considerable market advantage, it is worth the effort. Lindi Botha visited ZZ2's Toscana farm, which for four weeks of the year takes prime position in the cherry market.

South Africa doesn’t have an ideal climate for growing cherries. Herein lies a considerable challenge for those taking on this notoriously finicky crop.

But the rewards are worth it for those who succeed, providing a lucrative export market.

For ZZ2, growing cherries in Lanseria, Gauteng, provides an even greater benefit – they are one of only a handful of cherry growers in the global market for four weeks of the year.

“This is a massive advantage,” says Piet van Zyl, general production manager at ZZ2. “As our cherries enter the market, the Canadian supply has dried up. The next region to enter the market is the Western Cape, followed by Chile in South America, but only six weeks after the last of the Canadian crop.”

Identifying such a niche microclimate like that of the farm Toscana in Lanseria is part of ZZ2’s strategy to ensure the business can grow and position its crops in the market to gain the maximum advantage. While Toscana is far from being an ideal climate for cherries, production is possible with the right management.

“Cherries originated from the highlands of Tibet – you can imagine how cold it gets there,” says Van Zyl. “While temperatures on Toscana can dip to -8°C in winter, they can go up to 34°C in summer. So much of our time is spent on keeping the orchards cool, and manipulating the tree into mimicking behaviour in colder climates.”

THE RIGHT CLIMATE

ZZ2 planted a trial block of cherries on Toscana in 2015. While the results were not as promising as they had hoped, they forged ahead and expanded. Today the farm cultivates 17,4ha consisting of several licensed varieties from Zaiger Genetics – Minnie Royal, Royal Tioga, Royal Letty, Royal Lynn, Royal Alida and Royal Lee – which require fewer cold units than the open varieties.