The avocado industry in the high-altitude regions of Haenertsburg and Magoebaskloof, Limpopo, has experienced frost damage that is expected to influence both current and future production.
Dave Pirie, an avocado grower from Haenertsburg, said, "One shouldn't really be planting avocados up here on the mountain. It's at a high elevation and it's cold, and anything but tropical, but if you manage to get your avocados to harvest time, you benefit from a market window outside the regular season, when the prices are very good." He noted that the area's main production risks are cold and frost damage, such as the conditions experienced in late July.
On 29 and 30 July, temperatures dropped to -5°C in Haenertsburg and Magoebaskloof. While Pirie reported minor damage on his farm, other growers were more heavily impacted. Bram Snijder, agricultural consultant and vice-chairman of the South African Subtropical Growers' Association (Subtrop), said some farms lost up to half of their crop. He added that the frost also affected trees that were already in flower, reducing next year's expected output.
According to horticulturalist Kondi Munzhedzi of the South African Avocado Growers' Association (SAAGA), between 10% and 20% of this year's harvest is unsalvageable, and next year's crop will also be lower. She indicated that with many trees suffering cold damage, the effects could still be visible in two years. Snijder added that some newly planted saplings died and will require replanting.
The Haenertsburg and Magoebaskloof regions have attracted both small and large-scale growers, including Mahela Group, Laeveld Citrus, and Lombard Spies, seeking to supply avocados from the interior as late as December and January, when South Africa typically imports from the Northern Hemisphere.
Pirie noted that planting avocados in the area carries known risks. "This year, we will feel the consequences of that calculated risk in our pockets, but some years we benefit from a favourable marketing window. We've had three very good years. It's the nature of farming." He recalled planting the first avocados in the area in 1982, with none surviving, and using that experience to guide later plantings in the 1990s, which performed better.
The Pirie family began commercial avocado production in 2012. In partnership with other farmers, they supply a local supermarket chain during months when South Africa typically depends on imported avocados.
Source: African Farming
