the fresh produce industry
23 October 2007
Cape Town: The Department of Science and Technology (DST), together with the
Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and the Fresh Produce Exporters' Forum has
initiated a project that will address the technology gaps and associated
research and development needs within the fresh fruit industry.
This initiative is designed to develop and support an innovative and
globally competitive fresh fruit industry which grows the economy and create
employment opportunities.
Globally, post harvest and cold chain technologies in the fresh fruit
industry are evolving at a rapid pace. This is a direct consequence of
increasing concerns over: healthy and safety issues; packaging, both from an
environmental and fruit quality perspective; logistics and cold storage from a
fruit quality perspective; and cooling, temperature and humidity control from a
fruit quality and phytosanitary perspective.
"It is evident from competitor countries like Chile and Argentina that
investment in post-harvest research, development, innovations and
infrastructure has led to increased competitiveness and economic growth. The
intended impact of the programme is to enhance the industry's globally
efficiency, competitiveness and market opportunities," said Deputy Minister of
Science and Technology, Derek Hanekom in his keynote address.
Post harvest technology has a range of scientific and technological
processes, products and systems that the industry will access through this
programme. Fields such as plant pathology, materials science, thermodynamics
and electronics combine to produce technologies that advance the
competitiveness barrier in this industry. South Africa, with its networks of
research centres, is well endowed with research and development (R&D) and
knowledge generation capabilities in this area. Part of the DST's overall
objective is to develop an enabling framework in which other key stakeholders
in the National System of Innovation can be co-ordinated to assist the fresh
fruit industry in its endeavours.
Technology gaps were found to exist in the following areas; integrated
packaging solutions; container technology, irradiation technology and an
adequately resourced, one-stop industry information technology (IT) hub based
on a standardized data system linked to a network of information sources. Over
and above focusing on R&D activities in identified technology gaps, this
innovation programme will also support technology transfer and international
collaboration, and serve as a hub for intelligence gathering for the industry
over the next few years.
The fresh fruit industry is a significant exporter, accounting for about 45%
of the country's agricultural exports. It provides employment to about 400 000
people excluding logistics personnel.
For more information, please contact:
Nthabi Maoela, Media Liaison Officer
Cell: 082 944 0015
Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
23 October 2007
