Fred Bartels, a farmer in the New Hanover area of KwaZulu-Natal, has planted STAR 3316 for the past six years coming out of winter into summer. His STAR 3316 has been planted with great success yielding big heads at a time when cabbages in the area are small and few. His market is the hawker’s market where big size and healthy heads is a very important requirement. Last year was a very challenging year with regards to the weather. The adaptability of STAR 3316 to the winter’s climatic challenges made it the logical choice. It was a very dry winter with extreme temperature fluctuations ranging between very cold and very hot in the same week. Fred’s seedlings were supplied by Top Crop Nursery and were transplanted in mid-July.
The plant population was 30 000 plants per hectare and the cabbages were harvested in the first week of November 2020. The STAR 3316 had a high first cut percentage. Fred is very impressed with the overall performance of STAR 3316. He knows he can trust it and will keep the variety in his programme.
