The Tropical and Subtropical Crops Division provides sustainable and appropriate technologies for production and post-harvest handling of citrus and subtropical crops in order to enhance food security and nutrition, global competitiveness and wealth creation by addressing national priori? ties through its research agenda and related activities.

ARC-Vegetable and Ornamental Plants is doing innovative, need-driven, environment friendly research, technology development and technology transfer on potatoes, vegetables (hydroponic production as well as indigenous vegetables) and indigenous flowers. Research is aimed at both the commercial and developing agricultural sector. This Division has established a proud record of service to the agricultural industry and a large number of the potato and vegetable cultivars planted in South Africa at present, have been developed by this Division. The improvement of indigenous ornamental plants has also received a great deal of attention, as has indigenous vegetable crops, natural products and indigenous medicinal plants. The Vegetable and Ornamental Plants Division is also a recognised roleplayer in the field of plant biotechnology.

The ARC-Institute for Industrial Crops is an Institute of the Agricultural Research Council in South Africa. ARC-IIC is responsible for all the research on cotton, hemp, flax, kenaf, sisal, tobacco and indigenous fibre crops. The Institute, based in Rustenburg in the North West Province, operates with three research divisions namely, Plant Protection, Crop and Soil Science and Cultivar Development. The Institute also manages three experimental stations and conducts field trials in all the production areas for cotton, tobacco and the other crops mentioned above in South Africa.