Drought remains a thorn in the side of the apple and pear industry

The spillover effect of the drought and the heatwave during flowering in October last year could have a negative effect on pome fruit production, according to Hortgro’s general manager for trade and markets, Jacques du Preez.

However, thus far everything pointed to an average pome fruit crop, he said. “But, we aren’t ready to celebrate quite yet, because it is still too early to make any accurate predictions and things can change quickly over the next few months.

“Although producers have more water than [the previous] year, it does not mean that the drought is over,” said Du Preez. He cautioned that water restrictions were still in force in certain production areas and that producers would still have to work frugally with their water this season.

In 2019, the focus of the pome fruit industry would be on producing fruit with better colour and good eating quality, while the export focus would likely be on Asia, as well as on developing markets elsewhere in Africa.

“Africa is still our largest market for apple exports, especially Golden Delicious apples, while Asia currently represents about 27% of all apple exports. The UK is the third largest market and represents 22%. For pears, Europe is the largest market (33%), followed by Asia (20%) and the Middle East (18%).”

Du Preez said he expected tougher trading conditions in the European market this year, especially for apples, due to strong volume recovery in the region, following a significant decline in 2017/2018. However, there were concerns about the long-term holding capacity of the fruit, due to the unusually hot European summer, which could favour local producers. – Jeandré van der Walt