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The 9 July issue of Farmer’s Weekly contains a jam-packed news section. 

Erasmus says that one of the stories that readers can look forward to is how poor roads are hampering citrus and grain exports and transport across the country. Patrick Prestele, Consultant at Frost & Sullivan Africa, said in a recent report that 54% of South Africa’s unpaved road network was in very poor condition, and about one-third of the paved network was also in a poor condition.

Erasmus says that some of the provinces that are most affected are the Eastern Cape, Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West. 

She adds that according to the report, both paved and unpaved roads were in danger of degrading even further due to a severe backlog in infrastructure maintenance.

Adding to this, Justin Chadwick, CEO of the Citrus Growers’ Association, commented on this report and stated that potholes caused great damage to citrus fruit which affects the quality of the fruit. He also said that this is not only a problem for the fruit industry but also for human safety. This is especially the case on narrower roads where the truck driver has to drive in the middle of the road in order to lessen the damage on the fruit.

Furthermore, this issue of the magazine also looks at the South African winter grain season. Erasmus says that the season has not started off smoothly as farmers in the Overberg and Southern Cape regions have had to plant in particularly wet conditions. According to Toit Wessels, Assistant Manager: Marketing of Nampo, towns in the mentioned regions have suffered severe damage when rain of between 100mm and 400mm fell in mid-May.

In contrast, in the Swartland region, the lack of rain forced some farmers to plant in dry soil.

Lastly, readers can also look forward to an article about the guava industry. Erasmus says that according to the latest Guava Producers Association’s annual general meeting, guava orchards in South Africa have seen a decline from around 630 hectares in 2017 to about 540 hectares.

This decline can be attributed to the fact that farmers have removed the guava trees due to low profit. 

About 70% of South Africa’s guavas are still being sent to the juice market, “which simply does not justify high labour costs associated with production,” concludes Erasmus.

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