As we come to the end of Week 50 we are grateful for the dry season we have experienced this far.
It was a slow start to our Northern Cape season in Week 47 with a heatwave of very high temperature's we had for 3 days in a row, and greatly impacting the colouring of our early Red Seedless varieties.
We are excited to see the Western Cape region commence their harvest in the end of Week 51 and beginning of Week 52 with low volumes.
Namibia:
In week 50 we saw first arrivals from Namibia on the early varieties such as Early Sweet and Flame seedless.
The weather was favourable for the early varieties as the quality reports show green on arrivals. Heading in to the mid varieties the crop looks promising as anticipated.
Week 51 we will see varieties such as Sweet Celebration, Sweet Globe and novelties such as Cotton Candy and Candy Hearts with good volumes.
The cooler night temperatures favour the colour of these red varieties.
Orange River:
This region has finished most of the early white seedless and started with low volumes of Sable seedless and Midnight Beauty.
In Week 51 the first pick of Sweet Celebration will commence with the Sweet Globe only from Week 52.
After the heatwave in Week 47 this region has had a mild climate with day temperatures not reaching higher than 40 degrees and cooler night temperatures that is exceptional for colouring on the mid-season Red varieties as Sweet Celebration.
Also clear skies is the forecast for the coming week.
Western Cape:
From Week 51 low volumes of Starlight (Red seedless variety) can be expected, and continue in Week 52 which we will see Sable and Midnight Beauty being harvested as well. In Week 1 volumes will start to increase from this region.
The mid-season varieties such as Sweet Celebration and Sweet Globe looks promising with a good crop load at the moment.
Also the weather has been favourable for plant growth from fruit set until variason with a few high day temperatures and cooler nights that will be good for colouring on the red and black varieties.
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