The editor of Farmer’s Weekly, Janine Ryan, explains that temperature fluctuations have led to a smaller crop.

However, she adds that Cornel van der Merwe, the marketing and packaging director at Komati Fruit, says that favourable local pricing should work in farmers’ favour. He estimates that the group’s Tommy Adkins crop is down 10% to 15% due to low pollination levels.

He adds that weather conditions leading up to the harvest had been favourable, but that high shipping costs and delays at ports will continue to present challenges.

The chairperson of the South African Mango Growers’ Association, Pieter Buys, says that fruit quality is good this year, which boded well for prices. He adds that while the mango crop is stable, an increase in demand is still needed to give farmers a better return on the farm.

He also cautions farmers not to send immature fruit to the market in an attempt to complete their harvest, as consumers who had a bad eating experience are unlikely to buy the fruit again.

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Another news story takes a look at the increasing debt servicing costs which may force many farmers to downscale their production, while others will not have the necessary funding to plant crops.

However, the chairperson of Grain SA, Derek Mathews, adds this is not expected to jeopardise food security in South Africa. He commented on the South African Reserve Bank’s recent announcement that the repo rate would rise by 75 basis points to 7%. This means that the prime lending rate increased to 10.5%.

The increase in the repo rate means that borrowing money would cost farmers more. Farmers are being warned to avoid risky business such as planting crops on marginal lands.

Farmers are also urged to build up reserves when times are good to prepare for the tough times.

Furthermore, to expand the production of animal medicine and meet the demand for livestock vaccines from farmers in Africa, Botswana’s government has commenced the construction of a new vaccine manufacturing plant.

Ryan says that the total cost of the project is expected to reach around R400 million. Recent figures from the government-owned Botswana Vaccine Institute (BVI), show that two-thirds of vaccines produced in the BVI’s existing plant were exported annually to more than 15 countries in Africa and the Middle East.

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