The citrus industry loses about R100m/year through damage that the false codling moth - the industry's biggest pest - inflicts upon its fruit.
But a discovery made by Citrus Research International, the research and technology company owned by SA's Citrus Growers Association, and commercialised by sister company River Bioscience, has turned a problem into a major commercial opportunity.
River Bioscience has developed a product that keeps the moth population under control in a way that is completely harmless to the environment or other insect species. After 18 months on the market, the product, called Cryptogran, has captured 60% of the market share and River Bioscience will expand into other markets such as avocados, grapes and macadamia nuts.
The active ingredient in the product is an insect virus that is highly pathogenic to the false codling moth.
While working as a researcher at Citrus Research International (CRI), biotechnologist Sean Moore discovered the virus that kills these pests. But taking the discovery and turning it into a successful product was a complicated task that has taken more than seven years to achieve.
"First we had to establish the efficacy of the virus," says Moore, who is GM of River Bioscience. "Then we had to harvest and formulate the virus, and then figure out how to produce it - first on a small scale and then on a commercial scale."
This was complicated. "Taking an organism from laboratory to commercial production was enormously complex and introduced problems that we were in no position to foresee. We are dealing with a living organism and living things react differently to different circumstances."
Getting the product registered and approved by the departments of health, agriculture and environmental affairs was no picnic, either. "This is a new area, so we had to deal with lots of needless concerns and fears around the safety of using a virus in a product - yet it is far safer than any chemical pesticide in the environment."
Initially, CRI licensed the technology in return for royalties, but two years ago Moore persuaded the institute to establish River Bioscience to commercialise this and other products. CRI do the research and supply River Bioscience with intellectual property. In return River Bioscience feeds profits back to CRI to fund further research.
River Bioscience is owned by the Citrus Growers Association.
The close relationship between the three organisations has been highly beneficial. "CRI has an intimate relationship with its market. It understands the needs of the market and is best positioned to address those needs and to communicate solutions to them back to the market. Our association with CRI gives us credibility in the market."
River Bioscience also maintains close relationships with foreign buyers of SA produce. "It is a competitive and fast-paced market where the buyers are spoilt for choice. They are demanding and place strict environmental growing conditions on their suppliers." Moore believes the product, which is environmentally friendly, could provide SA farmers with an advantage over other orange producers who use chemicals to controls pests.
But one other challenge remained for the start-up company - funding. It had everything in place, good technology, a business plan and a receptive market, yet nobody was interested in funding the new venture.
"It was a major setback. The funders just do not have the adequate expertise to identify good and promising business plans."
Eventually the company got a loan from Eastern Cape fruit company Sundays River Citrus Company and another one from CRI. And it hasn't looked back.
The company, which is profitable, has one product in the market and two others in the pipeline. These will come into production in the next year.
It will also commercialise research that is not from CRI but which could be applicable in the SA or African agricultural sector. "River Bioscience could provide others with an effective and efficient conduit to market," says Moore.
