AGRICULTURE NEWS - A lack of relevant farming information is keeping South African fruit farmers from capitalising on the growing global demand for organic fruit, according to Hein Coetzee, CEO of TopFruit.
“There is growing demand for organic fruit, and I always assumed that pests, diseases and a lower marketable volume of fruit were the main reasons farmers didn’t want to farm organically. However, my MBA research showed that farmers didn’t have enough research [data] available on the matter,” he said.
Coetzee conducted his research under the guidance of Dr Lize Barclay of the University of Stellenbosch Business School.
In December last year, international research company Meticulous Research found that the global organic food market was expected to top R3,92 trillion by 2027, at a compound annual growth rate of 12,2% from 2020 to 2027.
