🌵 OPUS Cactus® Partners with University of the Free State 🌵

Prof. Maryna Boshoff (de Wit) and our CEO Joeri van den Bovenkamp – Hofman shaking hands over the freshly signed collaboration agreement!

We’re thrilled to announce our collaboration agreement with the University of the Free State, continuing a legacy of groundbreaking Opuntia research in South Africa that spans decades. UFS has been home to pioneering researchers like Marina Boschoff (de Wit), Gesine Coetzer, and Herman Fouche, whose life’s work has advanced our understanding of this remarkable plant.

This partnership perfectly aligns with our recent expansion of the historic Waterkloof Research Station in Bloemfontein. In 2005, the South African Department of Agriculture (ARC) created something special at Waterkloof – a dedicated facility housing all 42 spineless Burbank cultivars and serving as the primary repository for South African Opuntia genetic diversity. Using cladodes collected from conservation sites across the country, they continued developing our orchard just 30 km outside of Bloemfontein, which was always meant to be a research powerhouse.

Now OPUS Cactus® is carrying that torch forward and scaling it up. While researchers have been publishing about Opuntia’s potential for decades, we’re doing the work to prove, upscale, and commercialize it. Our focus spans energy, food, and feed production through continuous expansion of planted areas, modern high-density planting systems, intercropping trials, and biogas production optimization.

Signing a collaboration agreement with UFS represents an alignment of academic excellence with commercial innovation, ensuring that decades of research translate into real-world impact for sustainable agriculture.

More details about our specific collaborative projects coming soon!