Wet summer takes toll on quality of South African mangoes

The South African mango season is almost over. Initially, the sector expected a 10% drop in yield compared to last season due to poor flowering and pollination, which resulted in erratic ripening. This also drove up labor costs as picking teams had to go into orchards more often to pick the fruit. In the Tzaneen region, hail has had an impact on the mango crop, as it has on the avocado crop. There are also reports of wind damage. Crowded Oriental fruit fly increased Due to the heavy rainfall this season, there was a lot of nuisance from fruit flies, including the invasive Oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, which was first spotted in Mpumalanga ten years ago. As a result, the tradable numbers are lower. Mango is extremely susceptible to the Oriental fruit fly, which has not been identified in Free State, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape to date. Right: A photo shared on social media of a bowl of mangoes that had just been bought from a shop in Cape Town but turned ...