Fruit farmers fret as cuts hit irrigation and cold storage

On the cusp of harvesting this season’s first harvest, deciduous fruit farmer Heinie du Toit frets as the worst power cuts on record threaten to take the shine off his apple and pear crops destined for foreign markets.

Situated in Ceres, one of the SA’s major fruit-growing regions about 120km northeast of Cape Town, the century-old family farm Remhoogte needs a steady electricity supply for an automated irrigation pump network that sprays thousands of trees heavy with fruit.

Too little water during the irrigation peak, from the end of November to mid-March, affects the size and quality of a wide variety of apple and pear cultivars, hitting produce and revenue as only premier grades are shipped to the EU, UK, China and Middle East.

“The trees have a certain need for water and if they don’t get that it’s going to affect the quality negatively and then you can’t export fruit,” Du Toit said. A 10% reduction in exports from the farm may result in about R7.5m lost revenue, with lower grades destined for the domestic market and juice processors.

Daily load-shedding, which power utility Eskom expects to continue for up to two more years, have hammered economic growth, fuelling widespread discontent among businesses and households.

“Many farmers said this is their last chance and if something doesn’t happen very quickly they are going to sell their farms. It is a huge concern,” Du Toit said as the steady throb of a diesel generator started.

Power outages are the latest setback after a drought, the pandemic, bottlenecks at ports and higher commodity prices, such as fuel and fertiliser, due to the Russia-Ukraine war, Du Toit said.

The fruit industry is not the only one feeling the squeeze.

About 20% of maize, 15% of soya beans, 34% of sugar cane and nearly half of SA’s wheat production is under irrigation, said Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of SA.

Cape Town vegetable farmer Carl Gorgens has given up on about half of his farming area because he cannot irrigate as frequently as needed.

“It’s impossible to farm like this, to farm half the amount of seedlings in a season when you’re supplying supermarkets. I might as well stop and close the doors,” said Gorgens.

At the Bella Frutta fruit exporters’ packaging warehouse in Ceres, two huge diesel generators help keep conveyor belts moving and cold storage units at -1.5°C.

Earlier in January, the pack house burnt through 5,000l of diesel in just under three days to keep operations running.

“We struggle to keep a constant cooling supply to our cold rooms,” said Fransu Viljoen, engineering manager at Bella Frutta, adding it was frustrating to get up before dawn to reset the generators.