Blog Post
2019 SGASA Symposium
Dylan Jenkins • Dec 09, 2019
Navigating the future
The 2019 SGASA Symposium was held in a lush and very green KwaZulu-Natal, a stark contrast to the dry conditions of the previous symposium held in the Cape. Good news to the industry is that conditions have vastly improved in the Cape over the past year with some dams fuller than they have been in years.
This year the symposium was based in Hilton with pre-symposium and symposium tours all departing from Hilton as well as all the symposium presentation day being held at the Protea Hotel.
On the 3rd of June delegates flew in from all parts of the country to King Shaka International from where everyone jumped onto a bus to Umdoni golf course on the Natal South Coast for lunch. Interactions with old friends and colleagues was only broken by the opening address and welcome by Rob Perry (SGASA Chairman).
After lunch the first pre-symposium nursery tour and the only one for day was held at T&T agric. As this was the 1st nursery tour of a macadamia nursery since SAMAC joined the association there was a fair amount of interest in this tour. Colin Rand was extremely accommodating and attentive to all delegates despite simultaneously managing an extremely busy nursery operating at full stream. Of special interest was the way in which Colin can micro graft his Macadamia trees.
The long trip back to Hilton was rewarded by the towns excellent dining options and pub facilities hosting some of the delegates till the early hours of the following morning.
Tuesday morning started early with the first stop being at Sappi Richmond. A nursery with a long-standing affiliation to SGASA and a very special place to Rob Perry, who was able to showcase his incredible hard work over the many years working there and managing the nursery.
After a presentation and tour of Sappi Richmond the bus departed to Sutherlands Seedlings/Kings Grant where the group was greeted with coffee and snacks by Shaun Biggs and his team before receiving a talk on water and air management for plant rooting by Dr Paul fisher. Dr Fisher a Kiwi native now living in the US and has over 20 years experience in applied research and farm advising for the commercial greenhouse industry. Dr Fisher manages two university/industry groups to undertake applied research and grower training for greenhouse floriculture production and water conservation.
After the talk and lunch at the spectacular Kings Grant we were welcomed with a song by the staff of Sutherland Seedlings. The group then split in 2. Shaun Biggs (owner) and Phillip Ashton (manager) guided the 2 groups through the nursery. The highlight of Sutherland seedlings was the different Ellipot machines that were on display. Adrian Hembling, manager of Ellipot was very informative of the various machines. The day ended with the long bus trip back to the Hilton hotel where delegates enjoyed a fine meal.
Wednesday was the first day of the official symposium with the bus departing for the first visit to CPS seedlings. The group was welcomed with coffee and snacks by Julian Chaning-Pearce and his team followed by a nursery tour. It was very easy to see why the Changing-Pearce brothers are one of the leaders in our industry. Neatness, good management and well thought out SOP’s are seen in the quality seedlings that they produce.
The next visit for the day was Sappi Clan. Being one of Sappi’s flag ship nurseries, Sappi Clan failed to disappoint. It is immediately clear on entry where breathalyzer tests are necessary to gain access that this nursery would be one of the highlights of the 2019 Symposium. Sappi Clans specialisation is in Clonal propagation and this was show-cased by Wynand de Swardt and his team guiding us through the propagation facility. Raised hedges, a state-of-the-art pump room, vast rooting houses, grow out multispans and the sowing room were but a few highlights of what was a great visit.
The 3rd and final visit of the day was at Sunshine seedlings. Ken Leisagang, Bryn Pollard and Ian Sumner were our guides for the nursery tour. After a quick welcome we were fortunate enough to have a look at their production areas which includes their superior Urbinati sowing line, a Cocomill 100 supplied by Bark and Fibre Enterprises which enables quick handling and expansion of coir blocks. Kens biogas plant and essential oil distillery explains why this nursery had won the innovation award last year. The tour was concluded with drinks and snacks provided by Sunshine seedlings and beer on tap supplied by Ezigro nursery.
The Protea hotel Hilton played host to the final day of the conference, a full day of presentations. The highlights of the presentations included Ilke Opperman and Godfrey Sitole talking about non-hazardous pest and disease control and growing eucalypt seedlings in paper pots respectively. James dick gave a presentation on air filled porosity followed by Shaun Biggs giving feedback on leading forestry, fruit and vegetable seedling players around the world. Robert Pattison-Emms then presented a talk on the 8 steps to pest and diseases control. Dr Lindy Esterhuizen also gave feedback on the cabbage project.
Dr Paul fisher was the key-note speaker of the symposium giving talks on the day about water quality and treatment for healthy roots, filtration, sanitation, and system design to avoid root diseases. He also gave a talk on efficiency, costing and profitability for your nursery.
The day ended with motivational speaker Martin Dreyer, a multi-disciplined adventure sportsman, sharing his many adventures and life stories.
After a very busy week everyone was able to meet for the gala dinner again sponsored by Sakata and held at the Protea hotel Hilton. A bit of rain and cold made for a very cosy dinner. Schalk Bezuidenhout once again served up brilliant humour made even better by the delicious food and tasty drinks. The most improved nursery prize was awarded to Zululand Nursery. The innovation trophy was awarded to Top crops Mike Kruger and the max Bothma floating trophy for service to the association was awarded to Quinton Mulh for all his hard work on the Leaflet.
Thank you to all that were involved in organizing this incredible symposium. The 2020 symposium will be held in Tzaneen.
Installing a DIY drip irrigation system into your garden is a great way to reduce your garden chores while also reducing the amount of water you use in your garden. Drip irrigation is easy to install and even easier to use. Once you’ve got your DIY irrigation system in, you’ll have more time to enjoy your garden!