Next generation of growers visits Two-a-Day in Grabouw
As part of an outreach programme, Grade 11 learners from the Overberg High School's agriculture department, one of the few available in the Western Cape, visited Tru Cape's parent company, Two-a-Day - with quality manager Johan Saayman taking the learners around the packhouse and demonstrating state-of-the-art camera sorting and packing technology.
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Michiel Botha, the school’s agriculture teacher, said the visit described the whole marketing chain which included aspects such as ripeness testing, cold stores and controlled atmosphere storage where learners better understood that apples and pears picked in the pre-optimum stage were best suited to controlled atmosphere storage which, simply put, placed the fruit in a rest state until the required sales window opened.
The learners were also exposed to the plant breeding and grafting process to create trees of the same variety and to the innovative ways that orchards are maintained pest-free with the minimum chemical intervention. “We also visited Radyn Farm in Villiersdorp and met the Roux brothers who are Tru-Cape growers,” Botha said.
Tru-Cape’s marketing director, Conrad Fick, said the company supported a passion for agriculture as the nation’s food security depended on the next generation of growers. “In the past, we have also supported young scientists and continue to support international educational outreach programmes as our commitment to nurture the interest in young people to develop careers in agriculture.”
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