Whilst in some areas of Ceres in the Western cape of South Africa growers are still battling to establish the true cost of recent rain and hail damage, industry body Hortgro has told Eurofruit that almost 8m cartons of apples and pears – of which 4m were due to be exported – could have been lost in the storms.
However, spokesman Jacques du Preez said an estimate as to the volume of stonefruit lost had yet to be calculated.
“Rainstorms of up to 200mm hit some areas of the Western Cape from 15 to 17 November,” he explained. “This was accompanied by hail which caused severe damage to fruit and orchard in some areas.”
Du Preez said that in some areas orchards were still very wet, preventing a full assessment of the damage.
“Some farms in the Witzenberg Valley area of Ceres have lost 90 per cent of their crop, while less damage is estimated in other areas such as Warm Bokkeveld and parts of the Little Karoo.”
Apples and pears, the region’s main crops, were the worst hit, he added.
“Apricots, especially Supergold and Palsteyn, plums and early varieties of nectarines and peaches, as well as cherries, were also affected. At this stage it is difficult to establish the damage caused to stonefruit.”
Du Preez confirmed the impact on total topfruit production in the Ceres region was estimated at around 7.8m cartons.
“The export loss is approximately 4m cartons, which is split 60:40 between apples and pears.”
The rest of the fruit lost in the storms was apparently due to be sold on the local market.
Based on last season’s actual apple and pear production, and prices achieved, the loss in monetary terms could be between R300m (€28.4m) and R400m (€37.8m).
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