As South Africa’s macadamia industry shifts its focus, Du Roi Multiplant becomes the fourth licensed nursery in the country to offer the MCT1 cultivar
South Africa’s macadamia industry is entering a more demanding phase, and after years of rapid expansion in planted hectares and production, the question facing growers is increasingly not simply how to produce more nuts, but how to generate greater value from every hectare.
Against this backdrop, material supplier Du Roi Multiplant has become a licensed nursery to propagate and distribute MCT1, a macadamia cultivar managed by TopNut, a leading global nut cultivar management company.
Du Roi Multiplant, located in a Macadamia Felted Coccid=free area, is now the fourth licensed nursery in South Africa and the second in Limpopo to offer the cultivar.
In a statement, the group said that the development comes at a time when cultivar selection is receiving renewed attention across the industry.
“South Africa remains one of the world’s major macadamia producers, but growers are operating in a market shaped by fluctuating prices, rising production costs, changing consumer markets and increasing global supply,” the company noted.
“Macadamias have historically been an attractive long-term investment, but growers are now asking more sophisticated questions about productivity and profitability,” said Gavin Pirie, commercial manager at Du Roi Multiplant.
“While yield remains important, it is only one part of the equation.
”Growers now consider kernel recovery, whole-kernel potential, production timing, suitability to their specific growing conditions and ultimately what the crop can contribute to the profitability of the orchard,” he said.
One of the important shifts in the industry is the recognition that a tonne of macadamias is not necessarily equal to another tonne.
This places greater emphasis on the genetic potential of planting material and on high-quality disease-free planting material.
MCT1 is attracting attention in this context. According to TopNut’s available trial information, the cultivar has demonstrated characteristics including early commercial production and strong kernel recovery.
“However, as with any cultivar, performance needs to be considered in relation to location, climate, orchard management and other production variables,” Pirie added.
“No cultivar is a silver bullet, and performance needs to be assessed in the context of location, orchard conditions and the grower’s commercial objectives – but what MCT1 adds is another option for growers making those decisions.”
