Although some production areas received rain during harvest-time, which led to quality issues such as the splitting of fruit, it would not significantly impact table grape volumes.
SATGI recently confirmed that the Orange River Valley had already surpassed its estimate of 19,7 million 4,5kg-cartons. “The table grape harvest is still ongoing for some late varieties in the Orange River Valley, but based on volumes harvested so far, producers already packed 300 000 cartons more than we anticipated,” said Joseph
“The table grape harvest is still ongoing for some late varieties in the Orange River Valley, but based on volumes harvested so far, producers already packed 300 000 cartons more than we anticipated,” said Joseph Lombardt, SATGI’s information and knowledge manager.
According to Lombardt, Northern Province’s production came in at slightly lower than the estimate of 5,2 million cartons, but added that packing was still underway and the industry foresaw volumes reaching forecasted figures.
It was too early to form a clear picture of the Berg River and Hex River production regions, he said. “These regions experienced reasonably good weather, although it is still too early to predict any changes in the weather and how it may affect the crop.”
The current estimates for these regions were 13,8 million and 20,2 million respectively.
A recent breach in the wall of an irrigation canal in the Clanwilliam Dam left some table grape vineyards in the Olifants River Valley without water, “but it did not have a significant effect on volumes,” Lombardt said.
Packing in the Olifants River was still well underway, he said. The estimate for the region was 4,4 million cartons.
