up to truffles and truffle production
in a big way. In the Southern
Hemisphere, Tasmania, New Zealand
and Australia are producing truffles.
The newcomer is from South
America: Chile now has a thriving
truffle production industry.
It took me ten years to accumulate
the knowledge base required to
create a successful truffle orchard.
Besides the cold, the ph of the soil
plays a most important role. Most
South African soils are low in
alkalinity and must be modified by
adding copious amounts of lime, for
example. We now know the
technology for producing perfect
truffle trees and have done this for
six years already.
First we import truffles from
respected European exporters of the
Black Perigord Truffle. We then test
the DNA of each Truffle to assure us
of our quality specifications. Via our
top-secret formula, we inoculate
young oak seedlings. These plants
have been produced in a sterile
media. This launches craving in these
trees for the symbiotic relationship
that is the genesis of the truffle.
technology.
Europe, South Africa, Australia, New
Zealand, South America, Asia and
North America all have areas with ideal
climates for the cultivation of the black
winter truffle, the Perigord Truffle. The
black truffle grows underground on
the roots of Oak and Hazel trees.
Plantations of inoculated saplings can
be established to grow these fungi in
areas where the right cold units
prevail.
Truffle plantations typically begin to
produce truffles after four to seven
years and have the ability to yield
£90,000 (R 1 260 000) worth of
truffles per hectare when correctly
cared for. With relatively low
establishment costs and little
maintenance, truffle plantations
represent an excellent farm
diversification or investment
opportunity right here in South Africa.
The price of truffles today at the
farm gate is about Euro 750 per kg
and rising.
South Africa will come into truffle
production in 4 to 5 years and be
able to supply the Northern
Hemisphere markets thorough the
establishment of the Partnership
between Woodford Truffles SA (Pty)
Ltd and our selected producers. The
technology developed and used by
us to produce "truffle trees" is novel
and has huge advantages over
currently used technology. Our sterile
environments and DNA certification
ensures superior truffles and, thus,
higher profit margins. High
inoculation levels guarantees
colonisation, health and vigour
before the truffle trees are supplied
to the plantation location. We use
large container cultivation and tailor
truffle tree production to the
plantation location.
These inocula ted trees are not yet
ready to go into the farmer's land.
We need to wait up to 18 months to
know that inoculation has taken and
is strong enough to produce truffles.
Only then do we supply the trees to
the farmer to be planted in his or her
fields at the beginning of budburst.
Timing is everything!
Despite the intense demand, truffle
collection in the wild has drastically
declined over the last century by
around 92.5%. This decline is due to
many factors, not the least of which
is the destruction of the truffles'
natural habitats. True to the
immutable laws of supply and
demand, because of the decline in
production, demand for truffles
worldwide and their cultivation have
become a very attractive prospect.
Our truffle gurus have developed
superior technology for the
production of inoculated trees and
have developed a sound
methodology for plantation
management allowing plantations
using this new technology to be
subjected to the most rigorous and
informed approaches in crop
Truffle harvest in Teruel (Spain)