'Now is not the time to buy unnecessary equipment; [it's the time] to spend money only if necessary […]'
- Derek Mathews, chairperson of Grain SA, on the South African Reserve Bank's recent increase in the repurchase rate (pg 17)
'[…] not all extreme weather can be blamed on climate change'
- Dr Iheo de Jager, chairperson of the Southern African Agri Initiative, on the debate at the 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties about whether some countries need to pay compensation for climate change (pg 20).
'[…] If not properly managed, these two pests could have a devastating impact on production'
- Dirk Uys, research and innovation manager at Potatoes South Africa, following reports in November of widespread infestations of pests in potato production areas in Limpopo (pg 23).
'It's difficult to justify the purchase of the Karoo farms in economic terms […]'
- Johann Bornman, chairperson of Agri Development Solutions, on the impact of the drought on farm sales (pg 21).
Mango prices holding up at the start of the season
Temperature fluctuations during fruit set have led to a smaller mango crop this season, but favourable local pricing should work in farmers' favour.
Cornel van der Merwe, marketing and packaging director of the Komati Group, estimated that their Tommy Atkins crop was down between 10% to 15% due to low pollination levels.
"Weather conditions leading up to the harvest have been very favourable, however, and we've had a good start to the season. The biggest challenge for this season remains high shipping costs and delays at the ports," Van der Merwe said.
The group expected its exports to remain the same as last year or decrease slightly, depending on how the season played out. At this stage, high shipping costs made it very difficult to export profitably and it was a major risk to send large volumes abroad, especially as the local price for dried mangoes was quite high and presented a safer alternative market.
'AN INCREASE IN DEMAND IS STILL NEEDED TO GIVE FARMERS A BETTER RETURN ON-FARM'
"On the local market, prices are holding up well, especially in lieu of prices for processing, and I suspect this will play a big role in how much South Africa's mango farmers end up exporting."
Pieter Buys, chairperson of the South African Mango Growers' Association, said that fruit quality was good this year, which boded well for prices. Later cultivars, unlike the earlier Tommy Atkins variety, had high fruit set and a substantial harvest was expected.
"While the mango crop is stable, an increase in demand is still needed to give farmers a better return on-farm. The problem, however, is the significant markup in prices at supermarket level, compared with what farmers are getting. We then see consumer resistance; people just don't buy mangoes nearing R100 per box," Buys said.
He added that the consumer eating experience was crucial to maintaining market share. He cautioned farmers not to send immature fruit to market in an attempt to complete their harvest. "If consumers have a bad eating experience, they won't buy again." - Lindi Botha
Finding alternative markets for SA commodities
While the South African government has already done much to open up international trade into Africa and Europe, more needs to be done to find alternative markets.
This is according to Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agbiz.
"The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (agriculture department) and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) have done incredible work in a relatively short time frame to increase agricultural exports from US$2 billion/year (about R34 billion) to over US$12 billion/year, (R203 billion), but even more should be done," he told Farmer's Weekly.
Sihlobo added that sustainable growth in South Africa's agriculture sector could not be achieved through the expansion of production alone. "An expansion of export markets should be a key support pillar for growth."
Over the past 16 years, South Africa had successfully negotiated several free-trade agreements with important regional and international markets, according to Sihlobo. However, the majority of these deals were with only two of South Africa's largest markets, Africa and Europe, which collectively accounted for two-thirds of the country's total agricultural exports in value terms.
The recent rise in
