Agri AUG SEPT 09.indd - Agri SA

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agri Fokus / Focus NEW SOLUTION TO SA’S VERMIN PROBLEM This year, the food industry will have to comply with HACCP in order to be issued permits to trade. This means that, with health regulations becoming more stringent, business owners and farmers must find ways of solving their vermin problems. New, electromagnetic technology which has helped Australia deal effectively with its mice, rat and other pest problems has been launched in South Africa where rodent populations are now reaching epidemic proportions. Plug-In Pest Free has been heralded as the new ‘pied piper in town’. It eradicates all rats, mice and cockroaches from buildings and is the most cost-effective way of controlling the problem. The unit plugs into the wall socket and creates an electro-magnetic After this it was identified by Mr Ian Millar, a taxonomist of the National Insect Collection in Pretoria. The discovery of the Pomegranate whitefly (Siphoninus phillyreae) is a further headache for South African fruit farmers and gardeners. Recently Prof Giliomee’s discovery of the exotic Woolly whitefly (Aleurothixus floccosus), which attacks citrus, also made the headlines. Contrary to what their name suggests, these insects are not flies but are rather more closely related to scale insects and aphids. The adults look like tiny moths and fly around rapidly while at the younger stages they are suctioned onto the underside of leaves. According to Prof Giliomee, these whiteflies have the potential to become very troublesome and to do a great deal of damage. When they arrived in California in 1988, the whiteflies affected many shrubs and trees so badly that the plants lost all their leaves and the harvest of fruit trees was reduced. “Young pear trees even died as a result of repeated exfoliation,” Prof Giliomee says. “In cities and towns, the sticky honeydew that is secreted during the sap-sucking early stages, landed on cars and on people and was even carried into houses by the wind to make carpets and furniture sticky too. “It was intolerable and the pest was only brought under control in California when parasites were imported,” he said. The Pomegranate whitefly originates in countries around the Mediterranean Sea like Spain, Italy, Israel and Egypt where, apart from garden shrubs, it attacks a wide range of fruit trees. It later spread to India, Iran and New Zealand. A great number of pomegranate cuttings have been imported into South Africa from Israel and India in the past few years. Prof field around the wiring of the premises. Its primary benefit to the agricultural industry would be to protect storehouses, barns, warehouses and packing plants from rodents eating the harvested grain, bailed produce, or seeds and supplements. The Plug-In Pest Free unit has been passed by both SABS and HACCP (Hazard Analytical Critical Control Point) and has been successfully tested in various scientific double blind tests. The system works in ridding grain and seed storage areas of rats and prevents them gnawing through wires and floors, paper and packaging etc., in buildings. It is also environmentally friendly and saves money. Pets are not exposed to toxic and poisonous rat pellets, and rats that have eaten the pellets won’t poison barn owls. For more information, please contact Will Gubb on 021 464 1144 or 071 602 5793. a The exotic Pomegranate or Ash whitefly, which can severely damage garden shrubs, apple and pear trees, olive trees, citrus and pomegranate trees, was noticed recently for the first time in South Africa by Professor Jan Giliomee, a research associate at the Department of Botany and Zoology at Stellenbosch University. Another harmful whitefly establishes itself in South Africa Colonies of the immature Pomegranate whitefly attached to leaves by suction. agri Augustus/August • September 2009 44 PHOTO CREDIT: STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY/ANTON JORDAAN Giliomee surmises that the new whitefly entered the country with plant material that was brought in illegally and did not go through the quarantine process required by law. Prof Giliomee says he saw the insect here for the first time on a wild olive tree in the garden of his beach house at Vermont on the Overberg coast. A month later he received heavily infested pomegranate leaves from a farmer at Halfmanshof near Porterville, who suspected that it was the Woolly whitefly. Mr Millar then established that they were, however, also examples of the new arrival. “The fact that the appearance of these whiteflies is already so widespread indicates that they have been in the country for some time and can therefore not be eradicated,” he stated. “The question is now whether the numbers are going to remain relatively low or whether the situation in California is going to repeat itself here,” Prof Giliomee said. “It must now be established whether wasps that prey on the pest are present here and, if not, they must be imported urgently.” No remedies have yet been tested for combating the whitefly. a Engela Duvenage For more information, please contact Prof Jan Giliomee, (021) 808-2718 or jhg@sun. ac.za
agri Travel / Reis Shangri-La COMPETITION! AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2009 Win a weekend for two, bed and breakfast included at Shangri-La Just answer this question on the back of a post card: What does Shangri-La mean? Send your name, contact details and the answer to: Agri Travel Competition: August/September 2009, PO Box 1508, Pretoria 0001 Closing date: 30 September 2009 COMPETITION RULES: 1. The first correct entry drawn will win a weekend for two people, breakfast included, at Shangri-La. The judges' decision is final and no discussion or correspondence will be entered into in this regard. 2. The winner's name will be published in Agri. agri Place of Eternal Youth En-route to the riches of Southern Africa and the Great Limpopo Trans fortier Park (Kruger National Park) between Bela Bela (Warmbaths) and Modimolle (Nylstroom) lays a secret gem. The Shangri-La is a secluded hideaway of breath taking beauty and a sanctuary of peace and tranquillity nestled against the backdrop of the Waterberg, overlooking the Nile Valley. The elegance and charm of yesteryear is captured in this home way from home. The rooms are individually decorated with antique masterpieces echoing the African Colonial Charm of the main complex. It is situated in a malaria free area and is only one-hour drive from Gauteng. In addition to sublime accommodation, there is a romantic country style chapel, seating sixty guests. The high quality conference facilities include open-air venues and can each seat from two to one hundred guests. a For bookings contact SA Hospitality Solutions at fax: (012) 348-0591 or contact Dries at 082 327 3019. The winner of the previous competition is RW Gibson, Kokstad 3. The prize may not be exchanged for cash. Agri i accepts no responsibility whatsoever with regard to arrangements of the prize. 4. Employees and family members of the Shangri-La and Agri i or their promotion agencies may not participate in the competition. 5. Answers may be given in either Afrikaans or English.
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Agri AUG SEPT 09.indd - Agri SA

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