Provar News

South African growers forging their own trials

Mar 6, 2025 by Kate Prengaman

If there’s one thing International Fruit Tree Association members have learned in their visits to growers around the globe, it’s that tree performance and the required farming practices vary widely, depending on the climate. So, it’s no surprise that South African growers have deployed their own trial plantings to modernize their apple orchards with dwarfing, precocious rootstocks and find the new apple and pear cultivars best suited to their climate. The IFTA tour of the Western Cape in December included visits to trials planted by individual growers, cooperatives and industry service providers. Read More

Understanding adaptability in different climates

Mar 4, 2025 by Kate Prengaman

Apple trees usually want to grow up. Horticultural systems were engineered around the trees’ innate apical dominance, but without winter chill to trigger the system reboot that takes place during dormancy, they develop more basal dominance. “The buds at the top don’t wake up like they should,” said Esmé Louw, chair of the preharvest horticultural science department at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Read More

Distinguishing stars from dogs: Provar’s Role in the South Africa’s Deciduous Fruit Industry

Nov 1, 2024 by The Provar Team

A few weeks ago, Provar held its annual Information Day, bringing together industry partners, growers, and researchers to discuss Provar’s role in cultivar evaluation and its influence on the South African fruit industry. Read More

THE PROCESS BEHIND PROVAR’S FRUIT TASTINGS

Mar 27, 2024 by Kyra Rensburg

Provar’s well-known fruit tastings showcase the latest cultivars and selections that belong to IP representatives and fruit breeders. The fruit tasting provides an opportunity for industry and consumers to taste, discuss and see the samples, simultaneously Provar gains valuable insight from the cultivar ratings. Read More

Choosing table-grape rootstocks

Jan 16, 2024 by Kebo Toolo

Rootstocks function as “bodyguards”, shielding scion cultivars from the harsh effects of challenging climates and unfriendly soils and can boost the quantity and quality of the crop. Like picking the right tools for a job, producers choose rootstock varieties based on their unique traits. But here is the twist: SA has such a diverse range of climates and soils that it practically demands the use of special rootstocks for each environment. Read More

Many Cultivars limited resources

Dec 6, 2023 by Anna Mouton

AHortgro-funded project initiated by independent cultivar-evaluation company Provar aims to create an economic model to help growers compare the merits of new cultivars. Provar intern Maréze Smit is developing the model for her MSc in agricultural economics, under the supervision of Dr Willem Hoffmann of Stellenbosch University and the co-supervision of Dr Iwan Labuschagne of Provar. The project initially looked at apples and plums. Read More

Die nuutste navorsing oor aanpasbaarheid

Dec 6, 2023 by Anna Mouton

Navorsers werk hard om te verstaan hoe die interaksie tussen genetika en omgewing boomprestasie beïnvloed. Read More

Researchers aim to understand how the interaction of genetics and environment drives tree performance.

Nov 30, 2023 by Anna Mouton

An eight-year Hortgro-funded project in collaboration with Stellenbosch University and independent cultivar-evaluation company Provar is untangling the factors driving adaptability and stability in pome and stone fruit. Provar initiated the project. The postgraduate students involved shared project updates at the 2023 Hortgro Science Research Showcase and a recent cultivar information day hosted by Provar. This article summarises key points from their presentations. Read More

The Pro-Hort Ecophysiology Platform

May 2, 2023 by Anna Mouton

South Africa has been called a world in one country, partly thanks to our diverse natural environment. This might be great for tourists but poses a challenge to pome- and stone-fruit growers – how do they choose the best cultivars for a site? And how do they best manage their trees? Answering these questions requires an understanding of ecophysiology – the interactions between trees and their environment – that we often lack. Read More

IMPACT ISO 9001

Jan 18, 2023 by IMSM

Provarco (Pty) Ltd (Provar), based in Paarl, South Africa, is a privately-owned, independent new fruit cultivar, rootstock evaluator and data centre for the latest in product development intelligence. Read More

PhD study could help reduce pomegranate industry’s plastic footprint and fruit waste

Jan 4, 2023 by Engela Duvenage

​An idea that could eventually help shrink the pomegranate industry's plastics footprint and can curb food losses along its value chain. That's what a newly graduated PhD student in Horticultural Sciences at Stellenbosch University (SU), Dr Tatenda Kawhena, came up with when he developed an edible coating that extends the storage and shelf life of this Mediterranean fruit. Read More