Effects of drought still palpable in northeastern South Africa

Most South African citrus producers expect a better season than last year, when drought led to slightly lower volumes, with the exception of growers in the Onderberg and Letsitele Valley.

“Last year we were staring down the barrel of a gun,” says John Edmonds, information manager at the Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa. “It’s still early, but it definitely seems more promising, although we’re not out of the woods yet.”

Carel van Rooyen, managing director of Impala Citrus, that handles citrus grown in the Loskop Valley, Limpopo Province, agrees that harvests in that region will be up from last year. “We expect an average season. Growers tell me that fruit might be slightly smaller. They’ve had double the amount of rain they had this time last year and the Loskop Dam is about 60% full.”

To the east, in the Onderberg/Malelane district of Mpumalanga Province, the drought hasn’t been definitively broken, but good rains during the latter part of the season have seen the Crocodile River flowing strongly. However, during fruit set last year farmers were still under a severe regime: their water allocation was cut by 85% due to the drought. “By that time farmers’ own irrigation dams were also exhausted, so fruit set was significantly affected by the drought. We expect Delta Valencia harvests of about 15 to 20% lower and about a 10% drop in grapefruit,” says Cornel van der Merwe of Bosveld Sitrus.

In Citrusdal, Western Cape, more favourable conditions during fruit set allowed for a good start to the season. According to Piet Smit of Favourite Fresh Export, water supply is better than last year, not least because of water conservation measures. Smaller fruit isn’t expected and volumes might be up from last year, with an increase of 7% on navels and 5% on soft citrus.

For more information:

John Edmonds

Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa

Tel: 083 232 3161

Email: johne@cga.co.za

http://www.cga.co.za

Carel van Rooyen

Impala Citrus

Tel: +27 (0) 21 110 0900

Email: carel@impalacitrus.co.za

http://www.impalacitrus.com/

Cornel van der Merwe