South African grape export not affected by hail
The Red Globe and Dan ben Hannah varieties will be harvested from week 50 in Namibia, along with Sugarone and Thompsons. The Northern Cape and Limpopo will begin a week later with all cultivars. Bruwer advised that, “The Western cape can be divided into an early area i.e Olifantsriver, that has already started to pack, and a late area i.e Bergriver and Hexriver, that will start packing operations in the next two weeks.”
Bruwer mentioned that there has been some hail in the Limpopo province. This has not greatly affected the vineyards, however, there was some damage done to the citrus and mango orchards.
In the past few years, Freshgold growers have replaced all “old world” cultivars with new seedless varieties according to the current market demands. These are Sweet Celebration, Timco, Magenta, Sugra and Arra cultivars, to name a few. Bruwer says “Expansions on existing farms with the white and red seedless varieties will have an effect on the harvest of 2016/2017.”
For more information:
Basjan Bruwer
Freshgold SA
Tel: +27 (0) 21 555 1966
Email: info@freshgoldsa.co.za
www.freshgoldsa.co.za