Dr Gerda Fourie, leader of the Macadamia Protection Programme at FABI, and her PhD student, Angel Maduke, recently visited Macadamia growers to sample diseases and plan future experiments. These field trips were to the Levubu and Witvlag districts in the Limpospo Province and Ramsgate, Margate and Oribi in the KwaZulu-Natal Province.

During these trips Gerda and Angel visited various growers to sample twigs and branches for an on-going survey to identify species of Botryosphaeriaceae on Macadamia. They also planed a flower disease survey where specific orchards and cultivars were selected. Gerda and Angel also used the opportunity to do disease consultations.

They also met with growers from the Southern Natal Macadamia Association study group to update them about on-going research at FABI. They also shared relevant information about disease clinic issues as well as the on-going spread of the Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer and the work that Prof Wilhelm de Beer, Prof Noelani van den Berg and their teams are doing.