Deciduous fruit expert Prof Karen Theron of Stellenbosch University's Department of Horticultural Science is the Western Cape's top agriculturalist for 2021, with SU alumnus Dr Andries Daniels of the Agricultural Research Council in turn being the Northern Cape's top agriculturalist. This is according to the !Xhariep Region (which includes the Western, Eastern and Nothern Cape) of Agricultural Writers South Africa.
The announcement was made at the !Xhariep Region's annual awards ceremony, during which farmers, agriculturalists and new entrants to the agricultural sector are celebrated. It was held at Durbanville Hills wine estate in Durbanville recently.
The national winners will be announced on 12 November 2021.
Prof Karen Theron
Prof. Karen Theron has been a member of staff at Stellenbosch University since 1985. She recently retired as a professor in horticultural science in the Faculty of AgriSciences.
She enjoys studying more applied aspects of deciduous fruit production, and in particular focuses on research regarding plant growth regulators, fruit quality improvement and fruit thinning.
In 2014 she was appointed to the Chair in Applied Deciduous Fruit Research, which is supported by Hortgro Science and SU. In 2015 she received a SU Chancellor's Medal.
Prof Theron is nationally and internationally renowned as a scientist who has had a broad impact on her field, and as an academic pioneer for women. Throughout her career of excellence. she has been a role model for many horticulturalists. Prof Theron is a popular undergraduate lecturer and has over the years already successfully supervised 74 Masters and 10 PhD students.
Dr Andries Daniels
Dr Andries Daniels is a senior researcher at the Agriculture Research Council (ARC) Infruitec-Nietvoorbij. He started working for the ARC at Infruitec – Nietvooorbij (Stellenbosch) in 2006 as a research technician in the then breeding and evaluation division where he assisted with the evaluation of table grape cultivars and selections.
In 2020 his evaluation work of the past 13 years on raisin grapes led to the release of the very first uniquely South African bred raisin grape cultivar known as 'Sundowner'. This was done in collaboration with Raisins SA and CULDEVCO.
In 2020 this won him the prestigious annual Deciduous Fruit Industry Award, along with his supervisor and breeder Dr Phyllis Burger in 2020.
He obtained a BSc Agric in Viticulture and Oenology in 2005 from Stellenbosch University, with subsequent qualifications following. In 2021 he obtained his PhD in Viticulture. It focussed on different technologies such as near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy that can be used to determine the quality of whole table grape berries and bunches in the vineyard and the packing shed before packing.
He serves on the Board of the South African Society for Enology and Viticulture (SASEV).
Recently Dr Daniels has also started to provide comprehensive agricultural support to the Eksteenskuil and Releaboga farmers in the Northern Cape, with on-farm training and technology transfer.
