BACKGROUND:
DaisyFresh was formed in 1999 with a view to establishing a viable strawberry holding. It comprises 8 tunnels housing 7200 plants each and two hectares are given over normal agriculture using drip irrigation. Total number of plants that can be accommodated = 220 000. Total area of land 3.92 hectares.
There are two modern pack houses of 100m2 each on the farm. The one is insulated with polystyrene and double-glazed, epoxy resin floors, 3 forced air-cooling units, a storeroom and office. It has an air-conditioned packing area and a 6 x 3m chiller. The other is made of polystyrene panels lined with Chromadek, has a 6 x 4 m chiller, air-conditioned packing area, and storeroom Both agricultural fields and pack houses are Globalgap approved.
The Verti-Gro System
The tunnels are equipped with a complete Verti-Gro system comprising 1600 stacks of 9 pots each fed by a Hanna controlled fertigation system. This is a re-circulating semi -automatic system and once set up the only intervention required is to ensure that the feeder tanks are filled with nutrients. The tunnels are covered with shade cloth and Aluminet aluminium shade netting that can be rolled up or down according to the seasons.
There are also two outdoor areas where plants are grown in the hydroponic pots. One of these is covered with 40% shade cloth and is suitable for heat sensitive plants, whilst the other is open and suited to plants preferring full sun.
Total number of plants that can be accommodated in the Verti-Gro system = 102 000
Benefits and Advantages
• We have electric fencing, alarms, dogs and the services of a security company.
• We are not situated in a hail belt.
• We have diversified our crops and intend to progress this trend even further.
• We have 8 tunnels for ultimate crop protection and for out of season production with a competitive price advantage.
• Our packhouses are fully insulated to maintain the cold chain.
• We subscribe to GLOBALGAP farming and packhouse compliances.
• We are situated close to major access roads to retailers and the airport.
• We have three insulated delivery vehicles to cope with high demand for deliveries or a breakdown of one vehicle.
• We apply organic pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers wherever possible.
• We irrigate with Umgeni Water
The fields
Two hectares of drip irrigation through LDPE tubing ensures 100 000 plants can be grown at any time. There is a working Kubota 4wd tractor and the following implements:
Falcon slasher
Single board plough
Ripper
Ridger
Growing and packing fruit is quite labour intensive. We are a high density farming operation with 90% of our land developed or under crops.
The farm is priced at R4.5m which is the combined value of the land and buildings and all improvements made on the farm at market related prices. A list of all the assets is available on request. There is also a growing plan and marketing plan available.
Marketing the produce will take place through an existing distribution structure, which is a separate entity, (unless the new owners wish to market the produce through their own network.)
There is also room for development should the new owners which to increase the size of the strawberry holdings by renting the land adjacent to the farm.
If you are interested please contact: John Sandison email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or tel (27) (0) 31 767 2096 fax: 0866 722 061 cell 083 690 2503.
220 000 plants in all can be accommodated, of which 70 000 are in eight hydroponic standard 8 x 30m tunnels, 20 000 in shade cloth covered Verti-Gro growing areas, 40 000 in open air Verti-Gro areas and the balance in drip feed irrigated fields.
Two modern packhouses of 100m² each can handle the produce grown in-house as well as that supplied by other producers. In all, 1200 lugs per day can be processed through the packhouses when running at full capacity. Red 'n Jucy can offer additional packing capacity to outside producers.
The location is ideally situated to supply Pietermaritzburg and Durban areas.