Horseradish do its part for humanity

Horseradish do it’s part for humanity

John, with his wife Pam, first planted horseradish under irrigation 20 years ago and are now major contractual suppliers to two processors in Cape Town. The processors extract the enzyme HRP (horseradish peroxi - dase) from the horseradish roots, which is widely used as a catalyst in medical testing kits, such as pregnancy tests as well as tests for the Ebola virus and the recent coronavirus which has already claimed thousands of lives.

The demand for horseradish in the fresh market segment is very small and it is mostly used as a substitute for wasabi on sushi and as a condiment on beef in Europe. In the UK it is used with roast beef and in Ame rica, combined with mayon naise, as a salad dres - sing. It is also a common ingre - dient in the beloved “Bloody Mary” cocktail!

John and farm manager Barry Newton plant 79 hectares of horseradish under irrigation. The crop requires a minimum of 30mm water per week and therefore reliable water supply had to be secured. The two main sources for the four centre pivots that irrigate 90 hectares of various crops are a farm dam on the Frankfort spruit, as well as pumping rights from the Leeu River water scheme, which borders the farm.

Horseradish is a perennial plant and family of broccoli, cabbage and radish. Although perennial, John prefers to replant a field with new root cuttings every year (but not more than three years in a row) and then rotating with a crop such as teff. “We plant in July with a planter as well as with manual labour and start harvesting in May after the first frost has killed the foliage.”

Horseradish is mass-produced by only three farmers in South Africa. One such a farmer is John Parr who farms on the farm Yaxham, which is nestled in the shadows of the Thaba Patchoa Mountain near Tweespruit. The farm was named after an English village in Norfolk by the first owners. OVK News paid them a visit to learn more about this unique crop.

Barry explains that the har - vesting is done by a potato digger that loosens the plants to the surface, which are then collected by labourers. “The

labourers trim the tops and from the field the roots go to the wash bay. They get washed and sun-dried before being bagged and stored in cold storage. We

p The bright green leaves of the horseradish plant have serrated edges and the texture can vary from smooth to crinkled.

u John and Pam got married in 1969 and are the proud parents of four daughters and they have 10 grandchildren. Pam grew up in Westminster and John in Bloemfontein. Westminster was home to many families but due to the small size of the farms, depopulated over the years and there are currently only a few families left.

transport 25 tons to the proces - sors every 10 days.”

“Last year we harvested from May to December to meet the processors’ demand. We would

q 40 hectares were planted with horseradish in July and will be ready for harvest in May or after the first frost. The Thaba Patchoa Moun - tain is in the background. however have preferred to com - plete the harvesting process by August, but the processors have limited storage facilities and therefore their orders are con - trolled by demand from the

phar maceutical companies. We also have limited storage capa - city, but are in the process of

installing another cold storage unit to facilitate the har vesting and delivery process. It takes 1 ton of horseradish roots to ex - tract 1 kg of enzyme.” says Barry.

Pam explains that the roots of existing plants are cut into thumb-sized pieces, which are used for replanting. “The horse - radish root is not like a carrot. It has various roots growing in various forms and sizes, which makes it difficult to determine how many pieces one can cut from a single plant.”

The roots are planted 100mm deep, 30 cm apart in rows 90 cm wide. This results in a plant popu lation of 20 000 per hectare, which will normally yield 6 tons of roots or 6 kg of peroxidase per hectare. The roots grow up to 28 cm deep and the foliage grows from kneeheight to 1,0 meter.

“One good thing about horseradish is that nobody wants to steal it!” Pam Parr

Weeds are their biggest chal - lenge. “As there is no “Round Up”-ready horseradish, we need to spray for weeds on a monthly basis and we also have a se - parate monthly spray program - me for insects and fungi. As the plants get bigger, the weed killer remains on the leaves and does not reach the ground, thus we then have to resort to manual labour to remove the weeds,” explains Barry

The work force comes from Thaba Patchoa, a small settle - ment across the Leeu River. They work on an almost full time basis to either plant, remove weeds or harvest. John says they have divided the planting period to correspond to 40 hectares, ready for harvest from May, and 32 hectares that will

u John’s big love is his Beefmaster breeding heard, which is another component on the farm. The breeding bulls originate from Arthur Gilbert of the famous Ottorshaw Beefmasters in Westminster.

u Barry, who joined Yaxham in 2004, was born and raised in Westminster, matriculated in Pietermaritzburg and attended Cedara College of Agriculture. He worked overseas and in Mozam - bique before taking up his career as a farmer. He recently got married to Chantel Wessels, part of the OVK team in Ladybrand.

be harvested later in the year. This will ensure an all-year-round supply to the processors.

John explains that entry into the horseradish market is very difficult. “There are no seeds and the roots are controlled by the existing farmers. Production is dictated by the market and there is just no room for any additional production.”

Apart from horseradish and other smaller crops, John is very proud of his Beefmaster herd. To ensure enough grazing and provide for the animals in periods of drought, they have turned the drylands into natural grazing and grass with great success. This also gave John the opportunity to increase his cattle numbers.

So, next time you get a testing kit from your pharmacy, re -

member that farmers such as John and Pam are part of the process to create a healthier and safer society. Chances are good that the “wasabi” with your sushi comes from the East - ern Free State, and not China!