South African farmers juggle an early spring heatwave and daily power outages

Published 2022년 10월 6일

Tridge summary

The South African Weather Service has announced a heat wave in Gauteng, eastern North West province, eastern Mpumalanga Highveld, and South West Limpopo bushveld, with no rain forecasted until the end of the week. This weather condition could impact fruit crops, expediting the ripening of blueberries and strawberries but potentially increasing fruit drop due to high temperatures. The heatwave and daily power outages also pose challenges for farmers, including increased irrigation needs, disruptions to irrigation schedules, and higher costs for maintaining the cold chain and operating packing shops. These issues are compounded by the need for diesel generators and overtime expenses, putting financial strain on agricultural businesses.

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Original content

The South African Weather Service predicts that a heat wave over Gauteng in the eastern North West province, the eastern Mpumalanga Highveld, as well as the South West Limpopo bushveld will last until the end of the week without predict imminent rain. It comes at a critical time for many fruit crops: harvesting of early stone fruit, blueberries and cherries has begun, and the heat hastens the ripening of blueberries and strawberries. Meanwhile, citrus growers are watering at full throttle, Justin Chadwick of the Citrus Growers Association told the Daily Maverick earlier this week. In the Groblersdal/Marble Hall area, citrus orchards have recently finished blooming and are bearing fruit. There is still no alarm among citrus growers about the amount of fruit that falls; after next month's abscission period, growers will have a clearer picture of the harvest to come, says Maritza Roux, director of technical operations at Freshworld. Load shedding plus high temperatures could have a ...

Source: Portaldelcampo