It has been a decade since Bloemfontein farmer Pierre Hugo first began experimenting with a special type of sunflower cultivar, which led to his founding the agro-processing business Vergezocht Plant Oils (VPO).
According to the factory manager at VPO, Franz Homsek, Hugo had heard about a high-oleic (HO) sunflower cultivar that was different to traditional cultivars due to the dietary fat composition of the oil that could be pressed from its seed.
“The HO cultivar is considered rich in high-oleic acid oils [omega-9 oils] and contains far lower levels of saturated fats and omega-6 polyunsaturates than traditional sunflower seed.”
Hugo planted the first trials on his farm, Vergezocht, in 2005, and immediately began experimenting with pressing the seeds.
A SPECIAL CULTIVAR
Today, VPO makes its oil from seeds produced by the HO sunflower cultivar PAN 7158HO, distributed in South Africa by Pannar.
Homsek says the older HO cultivars delivered lower yields than traditional sunflower, which meant that farmers were paid a premium.
“New HO cultivars that should produce the same type of yield as conventional sunflower are now being investigated.”
VPO contracts growers to farm its seed in accordance with specific production practices. “We have a strict policy against the use of pesticides and herbicides. Although we’re not certified as organic, we try to produce the product as naturally as possible, and expect our growers to adhere to certain standards.”
The number of hectares cultivated varies, depending on carryover stocks, order levels and climatic conditions.
After harvest, seed is delivered to a dedicated silo at Senwes at De Brug. Senwes buys the oilseed from the grower as per any normal sunflower transaction.
“As we get orders, we buy the seed back from Senwes at the Safex price,” explains Homsek.
Esta historia es de la edición September 6, 2019 de Farmer's Weekly.
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Esta historia es de la edición September 6, 2019 de Farmer's Weekly.
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