TGC SEASONAL UPDATE WEEK 02 | 2018

LIMPOPO REGION

The first Surga-Nineteen started this week with excellent quality and colour! Week 3 will see more of these along with the finale Crimson Seedless. The Sugra-Nineteen volumes will continue until around week 5 to 6 and there is a great expectation about the quality as the region is experiencing an excellent year.

Production estimates were reached up to now and with the little summer rains we’ve seen an excellent quality year as well.

ORANGE RIVER REGION

Thompson Seedless comes to and end this week, followed by limited volumes of young Autumn Crisp and Adora Seedless plots. Moving towards the end of Week 3 the harvest will come to a close for this season. The region delivered good quality due to great weather conditions over the past few weeks.

Production volumes suffered however and the actual volumes achieved were down between 15% - 20% compared to the estimates.

BERG RIVER REGION

The region will be finishing up on the Black Seedless in the coming week and will start with the mid to late Red Seedless varieties in Week 3. The first Sweet Celebration will also be harvested in this week. With the late White Seedless varieties, currently in veraison and looking promising. We expect them to be ready Week 5 to 6.

At this stage it’s difficult to give accurate volume estimations and if the same tendency continues as were seen in the Orange River region, we’re expecting lower yields. Heat waves will also effect volumes of certain varieties in this region, specifically Midnight and Red Globe.

HEX RIVER REGION

Region will commence with the first Black Seedless towards the end of Week 2. The start of the Sable Seedless will be followed by Midnight Beauty. Production started on Sugraone in the early areas this week and will finish early Week 3. Volumes tend to be limited at this stage. Prime Seedless and Starlight volumes are moving to an end with production reaching original estimates.

Currently the area is experiencing excellent weather conditions with warm days and cooler nights. These mild days and nights creates excellent conditions for sugar accumulation as well as colouring. Overall the early varieties are showing promising size although with the mid to late varieties we may experience more regular sizing. We are currently unsure if we will be able to meet our production estimates. Crimson Seedless is at veraison and we are aiming for the first production around Week 5 to 6.

It’s still too early to claim that the lighter crop tendency from the Orange River Region will pull through to the Hex River Valley. We will evaluate the volumes and keep you updated as production continues into Week 4. We are definitely not expecting an oversupply from these regions this season.

The severe drought conditions are still a reality, not only for growers, but also people living in the metropolitan areas. Producers are implementing all necessary measures to keep using water resources as effective as possible.

SOUTH AFRICA FUN FACTS

Table Mountain with Cape Town at the foot of it, alone accommodates more than 1,500 species of plants. This is more than England, Whales, Ireland and Scotland combined.

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