Elected members to the Ad hoc committee of the AVUP for 1979
Left to Right, Back: M. Liebenberg, C.A. Straathof, P.C.J. Maree, D.J. Kennie
Front: C. Roode, E.W. Laubscher (Convener), W.E. Kerr
Absent: J.H. Jordaan, A.J. Mostert,
I.E. Smith
 

Members of the management committee of the AVUP for 1988
Left to Right, Back: B. Kneen, R. Hagen, D. Rossouw, A. Visagie, L. Hartley, D. Baird Front: P. Bakker, D. Rennie (Vice Chairman), Dr. P.C.J. Maree (Chairman), A.J. Oshrey
 

Honorary membership award at the AVUP symposium in 1991
Left to Right: Cori van Gooswilligen, Bas van Gooswilligen, Dave Rennie
 

Some facts of days gone by:

• The cost of attending the symposium in 1977 was R4.00
• The membership fee in 1977 was R10 per annum
• The cost of a 7m wide tunnel from Timal Tunnels was between R665 and R4845, depending on the length of the tunnel.
• Gundle Plastics sold tunnels from R4.00 - R5.00 per m2.
• To publish the symposium proceedings in 1983 cost R2.50

1982-83 production season

The association has always relied heavily on the members for funds and has been facing the same problems since it started. In 1983, the member count was 317, but only 185 had paid their membership fees of R15 per annual. The total income was R2775.

First logo used by the AVUP

Adopted electronic logo that was used since 2000
 
 

Logo used since 2005

History

The pioneers of commercial greenhouse crop production in South Africa were Don Bilton and his son Mark, who started growing tomatoes in soil, but protected with a plastic covered structure in 1972 on the farm Bonterivier, close to Stellenbosch.  They soon moved away from soil and plastic covered structures to pure nutrient solutions and switched from tomatoes to lettuce.  They adapted the `Nutrient film technique' (NFT), developed and published by Dr Cooper of the Glasshouse Crops Research Institute in Littlehampton (The ABC of NFT, 1979).  Instead of pure nutrient solution running down in 15 cm gullies, they used gravel in 900 cm wide plastic lined beds.  They produced leafy salad crops in the open, only with windbreaks and some plastic covers in winter.  This was their own 'Gravel flow technique' (GFT), the first commercial hydroponics system in South Africa.

Several other persons were also involved in the launch of this new industry in SA.  As early as 1973, Mr. Dave Rennie grew different crops in soil, under plastic covered greenhouses.  He was followed by several other growers who also planted in soil, benefiting from the better growth due to climate control only.  Today, greenhouse production is usually associated with climate control in combination with soil-less production systems.  These developed almost simultaneously but soil would probably still have been used today if soil-carried diseases did not cause problems.  A seed-carried bacterial disease, Bacterial cancer (Corynebacterium michaganense) was brought into South Africa, infecting almost all the soils in greenhouses used for tomato production.  Since methyl bromide only kills fungal pathogens, the soil could not be sterilised. This forced many growers to quit and lots of structures were for sale in the late seventies.  These neglected structures could be seen all over SA, forcing some of the distributors out of business.  The persisting growers needed a soil-less medium to stay in production.  The rock wool medium used in Europe was too expensive for South African growers.  This illustrated the need for research under local conditions.  At that stage, the Department of Agriculture could not help this small group of growers.

A French firm, Filclair, donated a 30m tunnel to the faculty and offered to send a staff member to France for training in the production of vegetables under plastic covering.  The first donation was quickly followed by a second and in October 1975 the production of both tomatoes and cucumbers was initiated in these tunnels at the Welgevallen Experimental Farm.  A third tunnel was donated by Gundle Plastics and other local firms donated various materials.  The department aimed to focus mainly on technology development and transfer and commercial research on the choice of cultivar, plant spacing, production methods, irrigation, nutrient solutions and combating diseases.  Their main goal was to get input from the producers and include them in the research from the start.  On August 31, 1976 the first symposium named “Vegetables under Plastics” was organized by the Department of Agronomy and Pastures, Stellenbosch University.  At that time the industry mainly focussed on the production of tomatoes, cucumbers and sweet peppers.  Even at that very first symposium, the importance of marketing was also mentioned and the significance of knowledge of people involved in various aspects of the industry was prominent.

By 1977, there were seven tunnels equipped with a “modern” irrigation system and experiments were conducted on tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and lettuce.  Mr Peter Maree and Mr were responsible for this vegetable program.  At the symposium on 17 October 1977, the producers decided to form the Association for Vegetables under Protection (AVUP) with an annual membership fee of R10.  Prof. Eddie Laubscher (Department of Agronomy and Pastures) was the first chairman.  The main aims were to exchange information amongst members and to publish results from experiments for the rest of the industry.  200 members joined in the first year.  In May 1977 the first of many study tours was initiated to European research stations.  They visited Israel, Greece, England, Holland, Germany, Guernsey and France. 

The association and its members, assisted by associated industries, generated funds, enabling the Department of Agronomy and Pastures, to establish a greenhouse complex at the Welgevallen Experimental Farm of the University of Stellenbosch.  This was the beginning of local research and development for the industry.  Mr Peter Maree initiated research to evaluate alternative growing media.  Gravel, rock wool, vermiculite, pine bark, sawdust and pine shaving were tested.  A mix between pine shavings and sawdust proved to be the best root medium under local conditions. He also gathered valuable information during visits to the UK and Europe and was rewarded with a PhD for his work in this field in 1987.  He took over as chairman of the AVUP in 1988.  In 1988 four members of the AVUP, Dr Irwin Smith, Mr C.A. Straathof (post humous), Prof E.W. Laubscher, Dr P.C.J. Maree, receive honorary membership.  In 1991, Mr Bas van Gooswilligen, who had been serving the AVUP since 1977 also received an honorary membership.  Honorary membership was also granted to Gerard Marais in 1992.

Prof Maree retired, as head of the Department of Agronomy and Pastures in 1995 but kept on serving as chairman of the AVUP up to 1998.  During his academic career he contributed immensely to the development of the greenhouse industry in South Africa. He published two very well known publications on the growing of greenhouse cucumbers and tomatoes in South Africa in 1981 and 1993 respectively. The nutrient solutions formulated in these booklets were later on adapted and sold by Kynoch (now known as Yara).  Bas van Gooswilligen played an integral role in adapting Dutch greenhouse technology to suite South African growing conditions.  He was instrumental in the transfer of skills to local producers.  After many years of evaluating new production methods and cultivars, he retired in 2001 and moved back to The Netherlands.

Since 1999 Mr Piet Brink, Mr Paddy de Vries and Dr Petrus Langenhoven has served as Chairman of the AVUP.  In 2005 a decision was made by the members to change the associations name to Intensive Agriculture South Africa (IASA) to accommodate a wider range of producers.