The SAFGA (South African Flower Grower Association) held a grower's day and an AGM on October 18, 2023. The day started with visiting Mobjadi Boerdery and Nedplant at Hekpoort, South Africa. Thereafter, members attended the AGM and had lunch and the annual flower auction at the van Gaalen Cheese factory farm.
The official start of the day was at the Mobjadi Boerdery farm. A group of 60 consisting of flower growers and suppliers to the cut flower industry were present for the visit. Entrepreneur, manager, and owner Welma Viljoen provided a brief history of how and when they embarked on this venture as "townies" with no prior expertise, emphasizing that anything is achievable with persistence, determination, and teamwork. "We had a wonderful, insightful meeting with a new understanding of how they go about growing exclusively hardy greens like pittosporum, viburnum, euryops, laural, and weigela." The visitors were treated to cold refreshments after a warm informative walkabout to all the production areas before they left for the next stop.
Next up was a visit to Nedplant Wholesale Nursery, where Mr. Hugo Proper, the general manager, introduced the visitors to the history of the farm and the diversity of ornamental plants and cut flowers that the company produces. This family farm has been in operation for close to 40 years, supplying the South African retail market. The main products are pot chrysanthemums poinsettia, and a range of other indoor plants. The cut flower lines are mainly larkspurs, eryngium, and sunflowers.
They proceeded to go through the production cycle of the pot chrysanthemums and poinsettias that are grown for supermarkets. Three stations were visited, namely: potting up area, propagation and cuttings, and lastly, growing area. The potting up area is where pots are filled up with premixed soil medium using a special potting machine. From there, they visited the propagation area where the cuttings are planted into the prefilled pots. Then, once rooting has taken place, they are transported into the growing tunnels, where they stay for a period of 3 to 5 months until ready for the supermarket shelves. "It was an informative walk through the nursery."
The AGM was held at the Van Gaalen Restaurant and Cheese Factory, after which everyone was treated to a wonderful lunch. After lunch the annual flower auction was held. With the money collected from the auction, the SAFGA committee and members will decide to donate the money to charity organizations. This successful networking event was held to promote interactions with stakeholders in the flower grower industry. Dr Pierre Adriaanse encourages new and old growers, suppliers, and participants in the Horticultural industry to become members and make use of the network advantages SAFGA can offer.
For more information:
SAFGA
southafrica.co.za