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Opus Cactus
Prof Maryna Boshoff from the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, Lerato Mamabolo (UFS graduate, now employed at OPUS Cactus), and Sotirios Pilafidis, Head of Research and Development at OPUS Cactus, at the XI International Congress on Cacti as Food, Fodder and Other Uses, hosted by the FAO-ICARDA CactusNet in Tenerife, Canary Islands.

The University of the Free State (UFS) has formalised a collaboration with OPUS Cactus, a pioneering biotech company focused on sustainable cactus-based farming and biorefineries in semi-arid regions. This partnership builds on OPUS Cactus’ expansion at the historic Waterkloof Research Station near Bloemfontein and combines the UFS’ academic expertise with industry innovation to promote climate-smart agriculture and economic development.

OPUS Cactus, led by Joeri van den Bovenkamp-Hofman, CEO, and Sotirios Pilafidis, Head of Research and Development (R&D), specialises in transforming marginal, non-arable land into productive, resource-efficient ecosystems by cultivating the drought-tolerant Opuntia cactus. This versatile biomass supports renewable bioenergy, animal feed, food production, fermentation feedstock, and sustainable biomaterials, while contributing to carbon capture and climate mitigation efforts.

“Our mission is to unlock the full potential of Opuntia biomass for sustainable bioenergy, food, and biomaterials, advancing regenerative agriculture and climate action,” says Van den Bovenkamp-Hofman. OPUS Cactus operates dual hubs: its headquarters and R&D lab in Groningen, the Netherlands, and the flagship 1 000-hectare Waterkloof Research Centre in the Free State. The Waterkloof facility serves as a commercial farm, research platform, and demonstration site for regenerative farming techniques.

The UFS collaboration involves multiple departments, including Sustainable Food Systems and Development, Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences, and Microbiology and Biochemistry. Profs Maryna Boshoff and Carlien Pohl-Albertyn, alongside Dr Gesine Coetzer, provide academic leadership in the partnership.

Prof Boshoff explains, “This industry-academia collaboration aims to develop innovative projects utilising cactus-based products. It builds on decades of cactus research at the UFS, enabling the translation of scientific knowledge into real-world impact through scale-up and commercialisation.”

 

Bridging academic research and commercial innovation to promote climate-smart agriculture

At the core of the partnership is the Waterkloof Research Centre, home to 42 spineless Burbank cactus pear cultivars. The facility acts as a ‘living laboratory’, integrating empirical research with commercial-scale farming. “Waterkloof now offers students and researchers access to operational infrastructure that cannot be replicated in conventional academic settings,” says Prof Boshoff.

Continuing projects at Waterkloof include biogas production through an anaerobic digester, regenerative agriculture practices such as cover cropping and reduced tillage, advanced plant biotechnology to breed superior cultivars, fermentation research for alternative proteins, and the development of novel fermented foods and sustainable biomaterials.

The collaboration also plays a critical role in conserving Opuntia genetic diversity and evaluating cultivars across South Africa’s varied agro-ecological zones. “Research done by UFS and ARC scientists on cultivar selection and cultivation is applied and scaled up through OPUS Cactus’ commercial operations,” Prof Boshoff adds.

This partnership provides valuable hands-on experience and career pathways for postgraduate students and young researchers. “We offer internships and employment opportunities, with several recent UFS graduates already joining our R&D team,” says Pilafidis. “We actively seek motivated graduates passionate about sustainable agriculture and bioengineering.”

By converting semi-arid landscapes into productive, carbon-sequestering ecosystems, the UFS-OPUS Cactus collaboration exemplifies how scientific innovation, entrepreneurship, and environmental stewardship can drive climate resilience, food security, and sustainable economic growth.

“OPUS Cactus is a win for the environment, communities, and business alike,” concludes Van den Bovenkamp-Hofman.

News Archive

Ensure your place at the UFS
2010-10-27

The University of the Free State (UFS) appeals to all prospective South African students who want to come and study at the UFS in 2011 to submit their applications no later than Tuesday, 30 November 2010.

The UFS is aware of the fact that learners will not have received their final Grade 12 results by Tuesday, 30 November 2010; therefore provisional admission will be granted based on learners’ most recent Grade 12 results. Final admission will take place upon receipt of the final Grade 12 results, which will be available early in January 2011.

Prospective students can obtain application forms for admission at the following places:

  1. The UFS’s web site at www.ufs.ac.za,
  2. The Information Office (Unit for Prospective Students) at the Thakaneng Bridge on the UFS’s Main Campus in Bloemfontein,
  3. You may also send an e-mail to info@ufs.ac.za or
  4. Phone 051 401 3000 and the necessary forms will be posted to you.

Senior undergraduate students (that is all students who were registered up to and during 2010 at the UFS) as well as post-graduate students, must self-register electronically on-line from Monday, 1 November 2010 until Tuesday, 4 January 2011. This includes master’s and doctoral students.

In order to encourage senior students to register online, the UFS offers 20 laptops as incentives for the senior students who successfully register online from 1 November 2010. These laptops will be handed over to the winners after the registration process in 2011.

Registration of first-year students:

The Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, will welcome first-year students on Friday, 14 January and Saturday, 15 January 2011, respectively, in the Callie Human Centre. The Faculties of Economic and Management Sciences, the Humanities and Education will be welcomed on 14 January 2011 and the students of the Faculties of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Law and Theology shall be welcomed on 15 January 2011. The compulsory orientation programme for new first-years will also then commence.

From 17 to 21 January 2011 first-year students will receive academic advice at the Callie Human Centre, whereafter they will be referred for self-registration. These processes will take place according to the set timetable. This timetable is available in the Kovsie Guide that will be sent to learners as soon as we have received their applications, as well as on the web site of the UFS at www.ufs.ac.za/register2011.

First-year students’ fees must be paid prior to arrival on 14 and 15 January 2011.

Registration of senior students:

Senior students who experience problems with the electronic on-line self-registration process have the opportunity to resolve problems within a programme on campus from Wednesday, 5 January until Wednesday, 12 January 2011. This programme will be sent out to students and is also available at www.ufs.ac.za/register2011. The specific scheduled day for senior students to resolve problems is the last and only day to resolve the problem.

Senior students can also contact 051 401 9111 for more information in this regard.

Students may register for prescribed modules for 2011, even though the November 2010 examination results are not yet available. Changes resulting from examination results that are made available later can be done up to and including 28 January 2011.

In terms of applications for senior students, only students who have interrupted a calendar year of study need to re-apply for admission.

Registration of students at the UFS’s Qwaqwa Campus:

Senior and first-year students of the UFS’s Qwaqwa Campus register from Wednesday, 12 January until Friday, 28 January 2011 in the Nelson Mandela Hall on this campus.

Registration of students at the UFS South Campus:

First-year students from the UFS’s South Campus in the University Preparation Programme and the Extended Programme (only Natural and Agricultural Sciences) register from Monday, 24 January till Friday, 28 January 2011 in the Arena Hall on the South Campus.

Students who have successfully completed the University Preparation Programme register with the first-year students on the UFS Main Campus on Friday, 14 and Saturday, 15 January 2011 – according to faculties (cf. paragraph 6).

Lectures for all students shall commence on Monday, 24 January 2011.

MEDIA RELEASE
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za
26 October 2010

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