Waging war against Tuta absoluta in Pongola

In Pongola, the tomato leaf miner is threatening the sustainability of family-run Basaki Boerdery, one of the last tomato producers in the area. Brothers Sakkie and André Terblanche spoke to Lindi Botha about their strategy for fighting this pest.

- Lindi Botha

FAST FACTS

Brothers Sakkie and André Terblanche run Basaki Boerdery, one of only three tomato producers left in Pongola.

Tuta absolute has made tomato farming in the area largely unprofitable.

There is currently no complete protection against this pest.

The Pongola of today is far different to what it was in the 1980s. Back then, vegetable farms stretched to the horizon, supplying a wide variety of produce to the area’s markets. Gradually, however, producers began to replace their vegetable crops with sugar cane, as they found the latter far easier to manage.

Today, while sugar cane remains the predominant crop in Pongola, it, in turn, is under threat of replacement by macadamias.

Brothers Sakkie and André Terblanche have combined the old with the new: their farm, on the outskirts of town, has tomato and sugar cane fields, as well as recently planted macadamia orchards. For them, staying the course with vegetables made business sense, as Basaki Boerdery (Basaki) is one of only three tomato producers in the area, which ensures that they have a stable market.

Lately, however, they haven’t been able to keep up with demand, as tomato leaf miner (Tuta absoluta) is threatening to destroy their livelihood.

“We started noticing leaf miner in our tomato crops around 2014,” says Sakkie. “Up until then, we had to contend with the normal pests and diseases known to affect tomatoes, such as blight and red spider mite, but they were manageable.