Development of New Floriculture Crops in South Africa

South Africa is a country rich in indigenous flowers with many species unique to the Cape Floral Kingdom. Several of these species have been exploited by local and international scientists with some being amongst the top 10 crops on the European Floriculture market. The Agricultural Research Council has had several breeding programmes on indigenous flower crops in the past 40 years with mixed rates of success. Several lessons have been learned from the successes and failures, and these are discussed for Amaryllidaceae, Ericaceae, Iridaceae, Hyacinthaceae and Proteaceae. Lessons learned include the importance of the whole product approach, the establishment of good co-operative relationships with commercial partners and the importance of promotion to ensure success. New methods to develop the indigenous crops in South Africa are continuously investigated, e. g. mutation breeding. The identification of new crop species for future research and development are also under investigation. However, the success of these new species depends on the development of successful unique niche markets, sustainable funding and a multi-disciplinary research approach.