Areflh's mission to South Africa ended a few days ago and FreshPlaza met with vice-president Luciano Trentini to talk about it.
"We have organised a visit to observe the production chain and the most significant technical-commercial aspects more closely. South Africa is a very important agricultural area for the production of table grapes, pears and apples."
Pear orchard in Ceres, Packhams Triumph cultivar.
"The country has great potential with its 13 million arable hectares and 80,000 hectares destined to fruit and vegetable production. What is more, its 1,800 producers export 45% of what they grow for €970 million."
For pears, we are talking about over 12,200 hectares producing 415,000 tons in total. 48% is exported whereas 38% is destined to the processing industry.
"That is why Interpera's 2016 international convention is going to be held in Cape Town."
The Rosenhof Nursery in Ceres - pear striplings.
"The country is focusing on the production of red peel varieties - there are 3,200 hectares of Forelle, 432 of Rosemary and almost 250 of Cheeky. We are particularly interested in Abate Fetel pears, which are cultivated on 750 hectares."
The data collected will be presented at Interpera in Ferrara (Italy) on November 19th.