Protea

Welcome to Working Group Protea. We are a group from across the globe dedicated to understanding the botany, physiology and ecology of the Proteaceae of both South Africa and Australia and using that knowledge to improve commercial production in areas of breeding, cultivation, postharvest, marketing and supply chain management.

Our research cluster is nearly 30 years old and over that time we have seen the introduction of fabulous new cultivars that are now hugely popular worldwide. For growers there is improved reliability of production as we learn more about the cultural requirements such as fertilizers, pest management and irrigation. For consumers, product quality has improved through greater attention to cultivar selection based on postharvest performance as well as form. However, compared with other floriculture crops our research efforts are only touching the tip of the iceberg. There are many research problems that remain unanswered such as postharvest leaf blackening and control of flowering. Demand for proteaceous flora continues to expand worldwide and the industry has huge potential to grow.