- I J Froneman and D Lemmer
- ARC-Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Crops, Private Bag X11208, Nelspruit 1200, South Africa
- 2001
The establishment of diplomatic relationships between South Africa and eastern countries, such as China, has created exciting new scientific opportunities for the subtropical fruit industry. Recent information on litchi cultivation obtained from China revealed an opportunity to obtain cultivars previously unknown and unavailable to the South African litchi industry.
The litchi originated in China, which has a cultivation history of more than 2000 years. As the native home of litchis, China has the most abundant germplasm resources in the world. There are over 200 cultivars in Guangdong province alone, of which 40 are grown commercially. With the early, mid and late season cultivars combined together, the marketing season of fresh litchis can last more than 3 months in China.
Considering a history of inferior strains and misnamed cultivars imported from secondary sources, the litchi industry in South Africa now has the opportunity to obtain a variety of cultivars from its source of origin. Furthermore, new methods of propagation like grafting I budding onto seedling rootstocks, have the benefit that large quantities of budwood can be introduced for rapid establishment and evaluation in our local industry. The best cultivars available in China are discussed in this paper.
Summary:
- The establishment of diplomatic relationships between South Africa and China has created new scientific and commercial opportunities for the South African subtropical fruit industry, especially the litchi sector.
- China is the origin of litchis with over 2000 years of cultivation history and has the world’s most abundant litchi germplasm resources. Guangdong province alone has over 200 cultivars, with 40 grown commercially, offering a far greater diversity than South Africa.
- South Africa’s litchi industry is limited with only two cultivars commercially grown on a large scale despite a cultivation history of over 100 years. Previous cultivar imports were mostly unsuccessful due to inferior strains, misnamed cultivars, and poor adaptation.
- China’s litchi marketing season spans more than three months due to a combination of early, mid, and late season cultivars, whereas South Africa’s season lasts about two months. This can help extend South Africa’s short harvesting season.
- New propagation methods, such as grafting or budding on seedling rootstocks, facilitate the introduction of large quantities of new budwood from China for rapid establishment and evaluation.
- The article discusses several main Chinese cultivars suitable for different harvest periods and highlights the potential for South Africa to access these cultivars for diversification and yield improvements.
- South Africa can fill global supply gaps in litchis occurring in mid-March to end of April and from mid-November onwards by extending its production season using cultivars from China.
- The conclusion encourages South African growers to leverage the open diplomatic relationship with China to obtain high-quality cultivars directly from the source, improving industry sustainability and profitability.