TopFruit

We’re thrilled to share an exciting update from Krousso Farms in Mkushi, Zambia, where two 3-hectare blocks of MCT1 have been successfully established as part of their ambitious 420-hectare macadamia project. The orchard design features three alternating rows of MCT1 with pollinators A4 and A16, supported by a dedicated mainline fertigation system.Innovative and sustainable practices, including mulching with wheat straw and maize cobs, and the use of Rhodes grass and sun hemp as cover crops, are helping these young trees flourish in Clovelly soils within a summer rainfall zone of 800–1200 mm (November to March). To promote strong, healthy growth, the team is carefully training trees to a central leader and protecting stems with PVA, copper, and fungicideapplications. MCT1 continues to demonstrate its adaptability and performance under Zambian conditions, marking another exciting step forward in building Africa’s macadamia future.

🫶 Together we can make change.   ❤️🩹 This October marks the 16th year of Pink Lady® South Africa's Crafts for Cancer event, which raises vital funds for the Cancer Transport Fund of the Tygerberg hospital in Cape Town. 🚌 From humble beginnings in 2010, over the years this event has raised the equivalent of nearly $100,000 AUD, helping countless women access cancer treatment with greater ease and dignity - ensuring they can attend their appointments and continue receiving the life-saving care they need.   💯 This year, Pink Lady® Crafts for Cancer brought together 100 amazing women for a day filled with creativity, community and purpose.   💄 The highlight? The chance for attendees to get their craft on by creating their very own custom lipstick shade, a fun, hands-on experience that celebrated self-expression while supporting a meaningful cause.   🍎 With 100% of funds raised going back to the fund, this annual event is a concrete expression of Pink Lady® South Africa's commitment to contribute to the community and drive meaningful social change.   TopFruit Liza Matthews Amber Williams Tania Viljoen   #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth #PinkLadySouthAfrica #TopFruit

Last month our team visited the USA and Canada to observe our test blocks. From our oldest block in its 7th leaf north of New York State to young trees in their 3rd leaf in the Hudson Valley on the East Coast, fruit quality looked impressive, with the variety’s distinctive dark burgundy colour on full display. Fruit in Ontario, Canada, also performed exceptionally well and consumer testing will be conducted in this region this season. Unfortunately, in Nova Scotia drought conditions severely affected tree development, but results remain encouraging given the challenging season, and there is intention to extend their test blocks. In Minnesota, it was too early to make any conclusions, particularly in such harsh winter conditions.    This first week’s visits were a great success. The journey continued the following week on the West Coast with several test blocks visited in Washington State. The fruit was highly coloured and looked excellent. The team also met with Oppy in Los Angeles, who successfully imported the first Soluna™ apples into the USA this August. The 2-week trip finished on a high note with fantastic fruit in Chihuahua, Mexico.    Each stop provided us with valuable insights that contribute to our ongoing development work. Our goal is to ensure that every future grower achieves success, and our technical work, along with every single test block, plays a crucial role in identifying optimal growing conditions and practices for the variety.

Visited the Namibia Table grape Block Competition over the weekend! Think all the growers can be very proud!! The new season is really looking promising!!! Huge congrats to BLOOM FRESH TopFruit Sun World International for arranging great block visits where open discussions took place and was very insightful!! Thanks to Voor-Groenberg Kwekery/Nursery for arranging a great trip!!

Choosing the Right Rootstock Macadamia trees are commonly propagated on Beaumont or Nelmak 2 seedling rootstocks. Surprisingly, very little research has been done to determine which performs best across environments and varieties. Our nursery manager, Dian, prefers Nelmak 2 for its excellent uniformity, vigour and compatibility with most macadamia varieties. He has also observed consistently high grafting success rates when using Nelmak 2, making it his go-to choice in the nursery. As we continue refining propagation practices, insights like these play an important role in improving tree quality and orchard performance.