The avocado industry experienced a disappointing year in 2022, with returns on the export market being far lower than anticipated.

Additionally, the industry is not expecting conditions to improve substantially in 2023. This is according to Derek Donkin, CEO of the South African Subtropical Growers' Association.

Ryan adds that just over 16 million 4kg equivalent cartons were exported in 2022, with most of them destined for Europe. Exports represented about 50% of local production.

Donkin said that in May and June 2022, volumes in European markets had been unexpectedly high due to the large late season shipping of avocados from Spain.

This, coupled with the Russia/Ukraine war and the global economic slump resulted in prices being lower than at similar levels in supply in the previous season.

Also, logistical costs were higher than in previous years.

Farmer’s Weekly also looks at the sugar industry’s outlook. Ryan says the industry is anticipating a harvest of a similar volume of sugar cane as the average of the past five years.

However, there is concern about the possible increase in the sugar tax which will likely be announced when Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, does his budget speech at the end of February.

Ryan explains that this would severely damage the struggling industry and result in job losses. She says that while many factors, such as the weather, could still affect the upcoming sugar cane harvest, preliminary indications show that the industry’s average yield would most likely remain within the five-year mean average range of between 17.6 million tonnes and 18.9 million tonnes.

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Another news story takes a look at vegetable production. Ryan says rolling blackouts and the economic global outlook has caused uncertainty about the production of vegetables.

Vegetable production is becoming tougher and more unpredictable, particularly in light of load-shedding, says Ryan.

Farmers are now opting to water their crops manually as irrigation systems do not work during load-shedding. This is especially difficult for farmers with large land.

According to Clive Garrett. Marketing Manager at ZZ2, food price inflation would probably outpace general inflation in early 2023, adding that producer prices have not yet fully spilt over to consumers.

He says this is bound to happen soon and that its impact would play a major role in vegetable production this year.

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