Page 20 - Landscape SA Issue 107

FEATURE

Dr Sunette Laurie holds a PhD in plant breeding Louis Schoonraad holds a bSc Hons (Agric)
and an MSc Agric (Agronomy). She is currently degree in plant breeding and is currently
a specialist agricultural researcher at ARC employed as a sunflower breeder at Corteva
Roodeplaat Vegetable and Ornamental Plant Agriscience, which represents both the Pannar
Institute in Pretoria. She has peer-reviewed and Pioneer brands. He is passionate about
numerous scientific journals and amongst agriculture and has acquired excellent crop
other professional bodies, is a member of the knowledge over many years. This proved very
International Society of Horticultural Science, valuable when the Pioneer marketing team and
the SA Plant breeders Association and the SA agronomists entered the sunflower market in
Society of Horticultural Science. She has been the external examiner South Africa.
of MSc, MTech and PhD studies.
The southern African Plant Breeders’
Driecus Lesch is a wheat breeder who obtained
his MSc (Agric) degree in plant breeding Association is currently requesting
from Stellenbosch University. He is currently
responsible for the management of the nominations for remarkable plant
Syngenta (SENSAkO) wheat and oat breeding
programmes for the Western Cape and Napier varieties developed for Africa. These
Research Station. The significance of his should be submitted before 1 December
contribution to wheat breeding is evident from
the over 90% market share held by Syngenta 2021, and the list of varieties will
(SENSAkO) in the Western Cape dryland wheat seed market.
be announced at the sAPBA hybrid
Dr Cosmos Magorokosho has produced several symposium to be held in stellenbosch
maize inbred lines that are currently being used
to produce hybrid and synthetic varieties in in March 2022. For further information
Africa. He is currently supervising several PhD,
MSc and undergraduate students. He holds a email Toinette van Rooyen on
PhD in plant breeding from Texas University,
USA, and is a member of four professional toinette.vanrooyen@starkeayres.com n
associations.

18 Landscape SA • Issue 107 2021