Careful management pays off for litchi grower

The subtropical hills and valleys of Hazyview in Mpumalanga were once home to numerous litchi producers. But the difficulties of having to harvest in December, when labour is scarce and prices are low due to market oversupply, saw farmers increasingly replacing the crop with others. A favourite alternative, thanks to their constantly rising prices, has been macadamias.

These challenges have not deterred litchi producer Pieter Luus, however. Although he has also ventured into macadamia production, his 10ha of 18-year-old Mauritius litchis are still very much part of the farm’s success.

Luus notes that litchi trees remain productive for 50 years, depending on how well they are looked after. So he pays close attention to this aspect, in particular maintaining a robust pruning regime.

PRUNING FOR YIELD

Since litchi trees produce fruit only on new branches, they have to be pruned both