The ARC has an in vivo genebank
containing 42 accessions of spineless cactus pear cultivars comprising Opuntia
ficus-indica and Opuntia robusta species. Since South African legislation prohibits the
growing of prickly or spiny cactus pear, this genebank is made up of only
spineless cultivars. South Africa is the
only country in the world – including the countries of origin, the US and
Mexico – where the Burbank cultivars are still found. These “Burbank” cultivars
are a special collection of spineless cactus pear and now only remains in South
Africa. This genebank has been used for research purposes by the research group
at the University of the Free State. It presently provides breeding material
for researchers from the UFS and ARC involved in the Broadening the Food Base
project. The ARC has started a cactus
pear breeding programme which will rely heavily on this genebank. Commercial farmers from around South Africa
and from Namibia have also obtained planting material for establishing their
orchards from this genebank. Cactus pear
produces more biomass using minimum amounts of water. It is a crop that is drought resistant in the
true sense and is therefore will play an important role in drought mitigation
in view of climate change. An estimated 1500 ha are cultivated for fruit in South Africa producing
about 15 000 tonnes a considerable portion of which is exported to Europe. A further 3000 ha are grown exclusively for
fodder in commercial cattle production. The
size of the cactus pear in terms of monetary is still variable as there is
rapid expansion of the growing of the crop.
There is immense scope for expansion of production in both the commercial
and rural farming sectors. The ARC-VOP
cactus pear breeding programme will be the only one in South Africa and will be
able to release new cultivars that are suited to the local market requirements.
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