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Alwyn van der Merwe, production director of ALG Estates near Citrusdal 200km north of Cape Town, said yesterday the new fruit has proved to be not only to be sweeter than normal oranges, but will also lengthen the season by at least three weeks.

"Year after year the farm has been struck by a troop of baboons which descended from the mountains," Van der Merwe said.

"The troop always selected one tree among thousands of trees in one of our orchards and devoured all the fruit before our season really got going.

"At closer inspection we discovered that the brix (sweetness grade) of this particular minneola, a soft citrus variety, was much higher than the rest of the orchard and that it started bearing fruit at least three weeks earlier than expected."

The farmers then set about grafting some shoots of this tree onto standard root stock and passed it on the Citrus Growers Association at Uitenhage where the trees are now being multiplied in greenhouse tunnels.

"This process takes two years and as soon as we get the clearance from the association the trees will then be tested in real orchards all over the country for a period of four years before it is officially registered," Van der Merwe said.

ALG Estates cultivates 26 different citrus cultivars on 600 hectares from five farms.

The estate boasts the longest citrus season in the country - 10 months - and aims to produce citrus all year round within the next four years.

Recently the estate registered a new cultivar, the Swartvlei Late Valencia, which now produces citrus until mid-December.

"We were lucky that the baboons' acute sense of smell led them to this particular tree. It was a case of a spontaneous mutation in the orchard, which would have gone unnoticed were it not for the baboons."

Last year ALG Estates won South Africa's most coveted agricultural prize, the National Farmer of the Year 2010, awarded annually by the association of Agricultural Writers of South Africa.

The estate is known in the agricultural world for its innovation and contribution to the industry.

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Mon May 20 16:53:54 SAST 2013 ::

Jan 13, 2011

KUKU

@Sowetan,
What is this now....nxa, la bora.
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Jan 13, 2011

DOGUNIT

SUCK DAT,MONKEY BOY,THIS THING KE SKOBO MARA WAITSE,A KE ITSE O KARE KE ENG
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Jan 13, 2011

Lee-Ann

Lol...I wonder what's next...!Baboons discover 'Cure for AIDS' in Western Cape!Things we read mo Sowetan? tjo!!!
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Jan 13, 2011

KUKU

@Lee-Ann,
You can say that agai.
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Jan 13, 2011

NIKITAH

kuku ngicabanga ukuthi ifana nawe le mfene aint you happy ukuzibona
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Jan 13, 2011

Mamasbaby

Chwene sebata sa naga did it again. O discoverile the sweetest plant omang the sweet one. You're the Zoo's main attraction. You bring joy to the people. Now you playing a bigger role in the countries economy and environmental cleaning.
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Jan 13, 2011

Mecury

THEY JUST WANT ATTENTION.KUKU CAN U INBOX ME PLEASE frankymecury@gmail.com
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Jan 13, 2011

LERATOLANNA

NIKITAH YOU HAVE CONCLUDED THAT LE NVENE E FANA NO KUKU, HOW ABOW ABOUT YOU APE? LOOK AT YOU YOU ARE SUCH A RESEMBLANCE OF AN APE SANA.
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Jan 13, 2011

LERATOLANNA

HAI WENA MERCURY SE OBATLO JOLA LE KUKU ON LINE BJANONG, WHAT IF KE MONNA AND LE WENA O MONNA
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Jan 13, 2011

NIKITAH

@Mecury
who r u by de way ,sana u must ask a friendship kahle ne uyisibhanxa
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