Month: April 2019

Social and Environmental Development Organization (SAEDO) is a joint CSR projects at Koka Cluster aimed at implementing diverse environmental and social impact schemes in the community. Florensis Ethiopia, Florensis Abyssinia, Dumen Organe, Syngenta, Almeta Impex , Ethio Vegfru and individual partners are the horticulture companies closely supporting the projects.

Initiated by Florensis Abyssinia to be executed for three years, the joint project has been under implementation since 2014 through implementing various CSR practices in the community.

SAEDO Program Director Mr. Nemwak Ararsa noted that private horticulture companies have high commitment for the successful implementation and benefit of the community.

The integrated CSR plan includes child support which is undertaken by cluster horticulture farms jointly. School development in which all of the farms in the partnership contributed based on the need and reforestation program.

The Program Director said that the project is successful in achieving the ultimate goal of creating good image of the companies in the hearts of the community.

The joint efforts that have been underway by the aforementioned companies are worth applying in other farms in the industry.

The Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) in partnership with FairTrade Africa provided training to horticultural farm representatives in Adama April 9-11, 2019.

Opening the training program EHPEA Training Department Head Mikiyas Bekele said that a concerted and well-organized training is instrumental in boosting productivity and unleashing the intact possibilities of the horticulture sector.

He said that the training is aimed at developing skills of selected farms focusing on building their leadership skills. Capacity building training plays a central role in enhancing productivity of the farms.

Some 33 trainees, who attended the training, were drawn from seven horticulture farms already certified by Fair Trade Africa.

The training, which is part of Women School of Leadership project, focused among others on Gender Awareness and Mainstreaming, Developing Self-confidence and Self-esteem, Group Cohesion and Principles of
Cooperation as well as Human Rights and Women's Human Rights topics.

Women in Africa represent around 45 percent of workers in horticulture, mainly as lower-skilled workers in farms and plantations in global supply chain networks, so remarked at a meeting held by the United Nations Foundation in collaboration with BSR and Her + project in Nairobi, Kenya.

Held with the theme ‘Workplace Women’s Health and Empowerment’ the meeting indicated that women working in agricultural supply chains in Africa often lack basic health information and services needed to live healthy, productive lives, and often face discrimination and challenges to advancement in the workplace.

It was stated at the meeting that women dominate in the sectors — floriculture (75-80%), coffee (70%), tea and cocoa (50%).

It was also noted that lack of access to health care and equality harms not only women workers but also the companies employing them as they see higher rates of absenteeism and turnover and lower rates of productivity.

During the meeting experiences of some companies such as Twinings were raised as an exemplary practice with regard to realizing the importance of investing in the health and empowerment of women workers in Kenya. The company is implementing project with smallholder farmers and tea workers in Kenya, most of whom are women. “Twinings works to provide them with information on reproductive health and family planning, sexually transmitted infections, menstrual hygiene, pre-and post-natal care, nutrition, and non-communicable diseases.”

During the meeting Twinings Social Impact Head Celine Gilart said that healthier, empowered and sustainable communities are essential to ensuring strong supply chains, but also working to improve lives in supply chain is the right thing to do. When women and girls thrive, so do the societies. Thus, it is worth empowering women in Image may contain: 1 person, sitting, table, living room and indoorthe supply chain through health and education.

At a session themed ‘how are business associations taking action to empower workers and farmers?’ Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) Executive Director Tewodros Zewdie, who was also one of the panelists, pointed out that Ethiopia’s horticulture sector is identified with a lot of success stories in spite of its age. The road ahead is bright for the sector as the government introduced incentives particularly for the sector in the last couple of years.

EHPEA has been taking multiple actions towards improving women’s health and empowerment at workplace, he indicated that modest achievements have been made in a relevant project on women health and empowerment.

Spring is in full swing in Michigan greenhouses. Growers are busy receiving young plants and shipping others to markets that have opened due to the recent warm weather. Recruiting and maintaining sufficient labor remains a major challenge in the greenhouse industry as the unemployment rate in Michigan is around 4 percent. More greenhouses than ever are using the H2A guest worker program, while others are considering the program in the future. In visiting with growers through the winter months, the Michigan State University Extension floriculture team has seen growers using a variety of strategies from high-tech equipment to streamlining their product lines for greater efficiency. Here are some of the strategies that growers are using to reduce labor costs at their facilities.

A common practice among the greenhouse industry is to germinate seedlings and root vegetative cuttings in plug or liner trays. This production practice maximizes greenhouse space and increases efficiency. However, many greenhouse operations are opting to reduce the number of times that each plug (seedling), rooted cutting (liner) or container is handled thereby reducing labor costs. Therefore, growers have started to direct unrooted or callused cuttings into their final containers.

In contrast to many European plant growers, American ornamental plant growers are expected to produce hundreds (or even thousands) of species or cultivars so that they can become a one-stop shop for a plant retailer. While most growers in Michigan are still producing many plant species and cultivars, they have streamlined their efficiency by limiting the types, styles or sizes of containers. One Michigan grower who markets their plants in elaborate, decorative pottery or other unique containers has streamlined production by growing succulents in all 4-inch pots, which will be directly placed into the decorative container prior to shipment. Therefore, the high-value container is less likely to become damaged or show signs of wear and tear during production and it increases the efficiency.

Greenhouse growers who produce larger combination planters or bowls have started implementing place-holder containers. This allows growers to produce plants that have different environmental and cultural requirements or schedules in separate containers outside of the combination planter and then transplanted into the final combination planter as needed. For instance, growers plant the outer plants, e.g., “fillers and spillers” then place an empty container in the center for the “thriller” thereby reducing labor when transplanting the central plant. When the central plants arrive, which may be a tropical foliage plant produced outside Michigan or are finished in the other growing conditions, the growers remove the place-holding container and transplant the center plants.

Greenhouse growers use plant growth regulators to chemically pinch plants. Spraying, drenching or sprenching reduces the need for hand pinching plants. Pinching off the apical meristem increases lateral branching and therefore enhancing the overall quality of the plants.

Conveyor belts are used especially during sticking of unrooted vegetative cutting, transplanting of plugs or liners or during times to streamline plant material out into the growing areas, thus increasing the efficiency of production. Growers have also implemented conveyor belts in some facilities and ease the movement throughout the facility and reduce the number of staff needed to complete a task.

Boom irrigation reduces the number of employees needed to hand water plants. Growers can also apply various chemicals through irrigation booms to reduce the amount of single applications. Boom irrigation systems are best used in facilities where plants are grown on the floor with wide ranges and walkways.

Producers who grow large quantities of young plants have made the investments into robotic vegetative cutting sticking machines, such as the Visser Autostix system (Photo 10). The vegetative cuttings are placed into biodegradable clips (Photo 11) which helps improve the performance of the robotic transplanter and allows for it to process some of our more delicate cuttings species. The sticking machine reduces the number of employees needed on the sticking line and reduces the time to stick cuttings.

Some growers invested in automated transplanters to transplant plugs from trays into larger containers. This robotic system also reduces labor needed on the transplanting line.

Producers who grow large quantities of young plants, especially perennials or woody ornamentals, use grading or sorting machines. Especially in longer production cycles, perennials and woody ornamentals differ in growth rates or quality throughout the production period. Those selling young plants often need to grade those for shipment or replant those that need more production time.

Growers of woody ornamentals needed to prune, shear or trim plants in order to increase rooting and control extension growth during long production schedules. This custom-made trimming machine (Photos 14, 15) allows for employees to trim plants quickly while disposing of the growing tips along the aisles which can easily be cleaned up.

Michigan State University Extension recommends growers take note of processes that decrease efficiency or require heavy staffing during this season. Once the season is over, greenhouse owners or managers can seek to input labor-saving strategies for next year.

Some of South Australia’s wine grape growers have seen their yields halve, as hot, dry conditions take their toll on some of the state’s wine regions.

However, many grape growers have reported being happy with the quality of the wines in spite of, or perhaps even because of, the tough conditions.

Clare Valley Wine and Grape Association executive officer Tania Matz said fans of Clare Valley wines should put in orders as soon as possible to avoid missing out, because there would not be much around.

“We’re estimating yields to be down 30–40 per cent on some varieties,” Ms Matz said.
“More susceptible varieties will be a much higher percentage down on last year, but overall we’re reporting we’re about 30–40 per cent down on average.”

Jim Barry Wines winemaker Tom Barry said there was little moisture in the soil due to the lack of rain over the past 12 months, which created problems for growers.

“It’s had a huge effect after a very dry winter and dry spring as well. There’s not a lot of subsoil moisture for the grapes to grow but the fruit we’ve had so far is really good,” he said.

“Riesling is really sturdy, that might only be 20 per cent down. Shiraz and cabernet were between 30 and 40 per cent down.

“That’s just the nature of the beast, that’s wine growing and we deal with that.”

Mr Barry said the talk around older grape growers, like his father Peter, is that no-one has seen dry conditions in Clare like this since 1982.

However, Mr Barry said vintages like this were the reason his family business invested in the Coonawarra region in the state’s south east 20 years ago.

“Really we went down for seasons like this where Clare has a small crop, but Coonawarra has had plenty of rain and that’s going to be looking really, really good,” he said.

In the Barossa, Yalumba head of winemaking Louisa Rose said yields were down about 20 per cent, but that recent vintages had been very good.

“Our yields do vary quite a lot from vintage to vintage,” Ms Rose said.

“Since 2015 we’ve had some higher-than-average yields and the quality has been good as well, so this may be the correction we needed to have.”

Winemakers must wear losses

In the Clare Valley, Stone Bridge Wines owner Craig Thompson said he had seen all the water sources on his properties dry up.

“We’ve got three dams across a couple of vineyards and we have had no water in them over [last] winter,” he said.

“The bores looked okay until mid-January, then they started slowing down and then [there was] no flow at all for us there.”

Mr Thompson said his riesling vines handled the heat a lot better than his shiraz plantings, which he called a “sooky grape”.

However, he said consumer demand for shiraz outweighed the difficulty in growing it in dry conditions.

“A lot more people drink shiraz than riesling even though riesling does well and we’re the riesling capital of Australia, but shiraz is what many people drink,” he said.

Despite the downturn in yields, Mr Thompson said winemakers could not just put up their prices to recoup the losses.

“We’ve just got to fake it for a while, I suppose,” he said.

“We have a pretty diverse business where we make some bulk wines as well as our own label. Things are going to be down a little bit, but we’ll just struggle through and hope for some rain.”

Just four hours to cut yield in half

For Port Lincoln’s Boston Bay Wines it was only a matter of hours, not days, that saw up to 50 per cent of the crop diminished.

Winery manager Tony Ford said they suffered during the extreme heatwave in January and, despite doing everything they could in the lead-up, the grapes just could not handle the heat.

“We were given plenty of warning that it was going to be full-on. I think Port Augusta broke the state record that day and we got to 48 degrees here in Port Lincoln,” he said.

“We watered and we put on some sun protection and we had the bottom of the vines all fluffy and not radiating it back up as much as it could.

“But by one o’clock we knew we were in big trouble.”

Mr Ford said the riesling was the hardest hit.

“That had quite a bit of liquid in it at that stage and wasn’t far off from being picked and we probably lost a good 60 per cent of that, which is heartbreaking — especially for my brothers who do the most work on the vineyard,” he said.

“The sauvignon blanc handled it a little bit better and we maybe lost 20 per cent of that.

“And the reds, that didn’t have a very good flowering to start with, were three or four weeks behind with moisture in the berries, so they handled it quite well,” Mr Ford said.

Quality on the way

Mr Ford said, despite the low yields, the grapes that were picked were of the highest quality he could ask for.

He said it was because there were not as many grapes left on the vines.

“Some wineries might ask vineyards to drop fruit up to six weeks out, so they actually will cut off perfectly good grapes just so the vine concentrates and really puts the effort into the remaining grapes,” he said.

“So in effect, because it was sort of a month before we picked, those berries dried off and died and so the same principle applies.

“This is exactly what happened in 2014 when we won the Wine State Riesling of the Year, it was the ugliest fruit we have ever picked, but we are not in a photography competition, we are after the juice and that is what the winemaker can work with.

“So there won’t be a lot of wine, but we are positive it will be top quality.”

Also in Port Lincoln, Peter Teakle Wines lost some yield during the high 40-degree days, but viticulturalist Andrew Blackberry said their location helped to protect the grapes a bit from the heat.

“Our riesling was also the big one affected for us, but the rest fared quite alright because we had enough canopy there to shade the fruit from sunburn or anything like that,” Mr Blackberry said.

“But compared to areas like around Adelaide, who were on average down about 40 per cent, we did okay with only a drop of about 15 per cent and our quality is still going to be really good.”

Some of South Australia’s wine grape growers have seen their yields halve, as hot, dry conditions take their toll on some of the state’s wine regions.

However, many grape growers have reported being happy with the quality of the wines in spite of, or perhaps even because of, the tough conditions.

Clare Valley Wine and Grape Association executive officer Tania Matz said fans of Clare Valley wines should put in orders as soon as possible to avoid missing out, because there would not be much around.

“We’re estimating yields to be down 30–40 per cent on some varieties,” Ms Matz said.

“More susceptible varieties will be a much higher percentage down on last year, but overall we’re reporting we’re about 30–40 per cent down on average.”

Jim Barry Wines winemaker Tom Barry said there was little moisture in the soil due to the lack of rain over the past 12 months, which created problems for growers.

“It’s had a huge effect after a very dry winter and dry spring as well. There’s not a lot of subsoil moisture for the grapes to grow but the fruit we’ve had so far is really good,” he said.

“Riesling is really sturdy, that might only be 20 per cent down. Shiraz and cabernet were between 30 and 40 per cent down.

“That’s just the nature of the beast, that’s wine growing and we deal with that.”

Mr Barry said the talk around older grape growers, like his father Peter, is that no-one has seen dry conditions in Clare like this since 1982.

However, Mr Barry said vintages like this were the reason his family business invested in the Coonawarra region in the state’s south east 20 years ago.

“Really we went down for seasons like this where Clare has a small crop, but Coonawarra has had plenty of rain and that’s going to be looking really, really good,” he said.

In the Barossa, Yalumba head of winemaking Louisa Rose said yields were down about 20 per cent, but that recent vintages had been very good.

“Our yields do vary quite a lot from vintage to vintage,” Ms Rose said.

“Since 2015 we’ve had some higher-than-average yields and the quality has been good as well, so this may be the correction we needed to have.”

Winemakers must wear losses

In the Clare Valley, Stone Bridge Wines owner Craig Thompson said he had seen all the water sources on his properties dry up.

“We’ve got three dams across a couple of vineyards and we have had no water in them over [last] winter,” he said.

“The bores looked okay until mid-January, then they started slowing down and then [there was] no flow at all for us there.”

Mr Thompson said his riesling vines handled the heat a lot better than his shiraz plantings, which he called a “sooky grape”.

However, he said consumer demand for shiraz outweighed the difficulty in growing it in dry conditions.

“A lot more people drink shiraz than riesling even though riesling does well and we’re the riesling capital of Australia, but shiraz is what many people drink,” he said.

Despite the downturn in yields, Mr Thompson said winemakers could not just put up their prices to recoup the losses.

“We’ve just got to fake it for a while, I suppose,” he said.

“We have a pretty diverse business where we make some bulk wines as well as our own label. Things are going to be down a little bit, but we’ll just struggle through and hope for some rain.”

Just four hours to cut yield in half

For Port Lincoln’s Boston Bay Wines it was only a matter of hours, not days, that saw up to 50 per cent of the crop diminished.

Winery manager Tony Ford said they suffered during the extreme heatwave in January and, despite doing everything they could in the lead-up, the grapes just could not handle the heat.

“We were given plenty of warning that it was going to be full-on. I think Port Augusta broke the state record that day and we got to 48 degrees here in Port Lincoln,” he said.

“We watered and we put on some sun protection and we had the bottom of the vines all fluffy and not radiating it back up as much as it could.

“But by one o’clock we knew we were in big trouble.”

Mr Ford said the riesling was the hardest hit.

“That had quite a bit of liquid in it at that stage and wasn’t far off from being picked and we probably lost a good 60 per cent of that, which is heartbreaking — especially for my brothers who do the most work on the vineyard,” he said.

“The sauvignon blanc handled it a little bit better and we maybe lost 20 per cent of that.

“And the reds, that didn’t have a very good flowering to start with, were three or four weeks behind with moisture in the berries, so they handled it quite well,” Mr Ford said.

Quality on the way

Mr Ford said, despite the low yields, the grapes that were picked were of the highest quality he could ask for.

He said it was because there were not as many grapes left on the vines.

“Some wineries might ask vineyards to drop fruit up to six weeks out, so they actually will cut off perfectly good grapes just so the vine concentrates and really puts the effort into the remaining grapes,” he said.

“So in effect, because it was sort of a month before we picked, those berries dried off and died and so the same principle applies.

“This is exactly what happened in 2014 when we won the Wine State Riesling of the Year, it was the ugliest fruit we have ever picked, but we are not in a photography competition, we are after the juice and that is what the winemaker can work with.

“So there won’t be a lot of wine, but we are positive it will be top quality.”

Also in Port Lincoln, Peter Teakle Wines lost some yield during the high 40-degree days, but viticulturalist Andrew Blackberry said their location helped to protect the grapes a bit from the heat.

“Our riesling was also the big one affected for us, but the rest fared quite alright because we had enough canopy there to shade the fruit from sunburn or anything like that,” Mr Blackberry said.

“But compared to areas like around Adelaide, who were on average down about 40 per cent, we did okay with only a drop of about 15 per cent and our quality is still going to be really good.”