With a successful track record in the motor industry as the springboard for new business ventures, John Evans embraced the opportunity to apply his geared-on-profit mindset to farming when he took over management of macadamia orchards on the family farm, just outside Port Shepstone.
With an understanding that questioning existing methods and employing innovative alternatives can unlock sustainable growth and economic returns, he looked to build on his investment at River Valley Farm on the KZN South Coast.
John was introduced to Madumbi via our distribution partner, Farmers Agri Care, a network of specialist agronomists, who provide integrated, on-farm crop protection and yield improvement services to commercial farmers in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.
Over the past three years, John has aimed to be proactive in his approach to crop protection, rather than being reactive. With considerate, conscientious improvements to his pruning, fertiliser and overall orchard management, along with the implementation of the Madumbi Root Health Program, he has improved his yield from 3.6 tons to 10.7 tons dry in shell from 617 trees. Over this same period, his percentage unsounds have improved from 17.5% to 1.8%. Quite simply, this results in a more profitable orchard – along with healthier, stronger trees that are geared to produce to the same, if not better quality year on year.
In a further attempt to ‘prove the concept’, John set up a mini trial on both established macadamia trees as well as new tree plantings. The routine maintenance program was implemented across all trees, with a dedicated block of established as well as newly planted trees being treated with the full Madumbi Root Health program (Eco-T, RhizoVital, V12 Initiate and AgriSil).
The results speak for themselves – visually, in the trial block and financially with the improved yields.
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