The Agricultural Research Council in South Africa is encouraging growers to participate in testing new fruit cultivars developed for local production conditions. Speaking at the Subtrop Marketing Symposium in White River, ARC senior manager for intellectual property and commercialisation Dr Cynthia Motsi said the organisation's mandate under the Agricultural Research Act includes research, technology transfer, and commercialisation. She noted that the ARC operates research farms, greenhouses, and laboratories across all nine provinces and has facilities for plant-tissue culture, biotechnology, and pathology, but requires grower participation to evaluate fruit cultivars under commercial conditions.
"We need farmers to help evaluate new fruit cultivars in different climate regions," she said. She added that trials provide information on adaptability, yield potential, disease resistance, quality, and consumer preference. According to Dr Motsi, growers who participate in testing may gain earlier access once licensing begins. "When a grower already has experience with the material and helps us test it, they often gain earlier access to the marketable product once licensing begins," she said.
As a state-owned entity, the ARC must comply with the Public Finance Management Act and is required to commercialise technologies rather than leave them unused. Dr Motsi said that the commercialisation process must be open and competitive and encouraged growers to respond to public notices when new cultivars are released for testing.
The ARC's subtropical research units are developing new varieties of mangoes, litchis, citrus, macadamias, avocados, bananas, and other crops. "These are proudly South African cultivars that can compete internationally," she said, adding that the ARC already works with several industry organisations and aims to expand collaboration.
Source: AfricanFarming
