Macadamia is one of the fastest growing agricultural industries in the country and is of economic importance to South Africa. The industry is however hampered by a number of pests and diseases which can cause major economic loss, both in terms of yield as well as nut quality. The industry currently relies heavily on the use of commercially available pesticides and chemicals for pest and disease control. There is, however, growing concern regarding continuous build-up of resistance, and the long-term sustainability of the industry is dependent on the use of integrated pest management. Integrated pest management systems aim to prevent or lower pest and disease incidence by employing multiple strategies. These strategies may range from the introduction of natural enemies or biological control, disruption of the pest’s reproductive systems, planting of resistant cultivars as well as timely application of chemicals or pesticides. Effective implementation of these are built on information regarding pest identity, population dynamics, disease cycle, infection biology, epidemiology and spread. Such information, however, is often lacking or not well understood. The current research focus areas of the MPP will aim to fill these knowledge gaps. 


Contact us

Telephone +27 (12) 420-3854
FAX +27 (12) 420-3960
Postal Address

Dr Gerda Fourie

74 Lunnon Street,
University of Pretoria



New Publications

Geiser DM, Al-Hatmi A, Aoki T, Arie T, Balmas V, Barnes I, Bergstrom GC, Bhattacharyya MKK, Blomquist CL, Bowden R, Brankovics B, Brown DW, Burgess LW, Bushley K, Busman M, Cano-Lira JF, Carrillo JD, Chang HX, Chen CY, Chen W, Chilvers MI, Chulze SN, Coleman JJ, Cuomo CA, de Beer ZW, de Hoog GS, Del Castillo-Múnera J, Del Ponte E, Diéguez-Uribeondo J, Di Pietro A, Edel-Hermann V, Elmer WH, Epstein L, Eskalen A, Esposto MC, Everts KL, Fernández-Pavía SP, da Silva GF, Foroud NA, Fourie G, Frandsen RJN, Freeman S, Freitag M, Frenkel O, Fuller KK, Gagkaeva T, Gardiner DM, Glenn AE, Gold S, Gordon T, Gregory NF, Gryzenhout M, Guarro J, Gugino B, Gutiérrez S, Hammond-Kosack K, Harris LJ, Homa M, Hong CF, Hornok L, Huang JW, Ilkit M, Jacobs A, Jacobs K, Jiang C, Jimenez-Gasco MDM, Kang S, Kasson MT, Kazan K, Kennell JC, Kim H, Kistler HC, Kuldau GA, Kulik T, Kurzai O, Laraba I, Laurence MH, Lee TY, Lee YW, Lee YH, Leslie JF, Liew ECY, Lofton LW, Logrieco A, Sánchez López-Berges M, Luque AG, Lysøe E, Ma LJ, Marra RE, Martin FN, May SR, McCormick S, McGee CT, Meis JF, Migheli Q, Mohamed Nor NMI, Monod M, Moretti A, Mostert D, Mulé G, Munaut F, Munkvold GP, Nicholson P, Nucci M, O'Donnell K, Pasquali M, Pfenning LH, Prigitano A, Proctor R, Ranque S, Rehner S, Rep M, Rodríguez-Alvarado G, Rose LJ, Roth MG, Ruiz-Roldán C, Saleh AA, Salleh B, Sang H, Scandiani M, Scauflaire J, Schmale D 3, Short DP, Šišić A, Smith J, Smyth CW, Son H, Spahr E, Stajich JE, Steenkamp E, Steinberg C, Subramaniam R, Suga H, Summerell BA, Susca A, Swett CL, Toomajian C, Torres-Cruz TJ, Tortorano AM, Urban M, Vaillancourt LJ, Vallad GE, van der Lee T, Vanderpool D, van Diepeningen AD, Vaughan M, Venter E, Vermeulen M, Verweij PE, Viljoen A, Waalwijk C, Wallace EC, Walther G, Wang J, Ward T, Wickes B, Wiederhold NP, Wingfield MJ, Wood AKM, Xu JR, Yang XB, Yli-Matilla T, Yun SH, Zakaria L, Zhang H, Zhang N, Zhang S, Zhang X. (2020) Phylogenomic analysis of a 55.1 kb 19-gene dataset resolves a monophyletic Fusarium that includes the Fusarium solani Species Complex. Phytopathology 10.1094/PHYTO-08-20-0330-LE
Mufamadi Z, Fourie G, Willis-Boyum A, van den Berg N. (2020) Husk rot disease: causal agents and disease epidemiology. SAMAC Journal PDF
Pal E, Hurley BP, Slippers B, Fourie G. (2020) Progress towards characterisation of pheromones of Bathycoelia distincta. SAMAC Journal PDF
Smith A, Hurley BP, Slippers B, Fourie G. (2020) Life stage characterisation of Thaumatotibia batrachopa on an artificial diet. SAMAC Journal PDF
Twiddy D, de Beer ZW, Fourie G. (2020) The PSHB and its potential impact on the South African macadamia Industry. SAMAC Journal PDF