Pear producers started in week 1, with early Bon Chretiens (Bartlett or Williams pears) and the South African-bred Rosemarie blush pear.
The pear producers FreshPlaza spoke to are content with what they’re seeing (pictured right are the first Cheeky pears picked on a farm in Grabouw).
Winter was wet and cold, springtime took a while to get going and there was a heatwave in October, but the drought is, for the moment at least, over. There’s been some wind damage late last week but as one producer says: “I don’t want to complain about it because the larger picture is positive.”
The yield and sizing look good, better than last year, and in the end the heatwave and concomitant heavier pest load didn’t complicate matters that much, with enough fruit on the trees to compensate for flower and fruit drop.
“There’s no market for small counts in Europe,” says Christo Strydom, general manager of Wolfpack Wolseley Fruit Packers, “Russia is taking our smaller counts at the moment because they can’t compete with the Europeans on price.” He notes that blush pear marketing is easier than that of green pears.
Their first shipments left last week, much of it to Europe, for which the transit time is only two weeks.
The Cheeky harvest, a fairly new South African cultivar of blush pear, has commenced or is imminent for many producers. Packhams will start in about a month’s time.
First apples in 10 to 14 days
The Western Cape apple harvest can be expected towards the end of January with Royal Gala, Golden Panoramas and another South African-developed cultivar, Royal Beaut.
Current conditions are favourable for colour development on bi-coloured apples (as well as, alas, an unwanted blush on Granny Smiths) but it’s premature to make any pronouncements.
The heatwave has had an impact on their red apples flowering at just that time, says De Kock Hamman, technical manager at Ceres Fruit Growers, affecting orchards of Early Red One and Top Red, where he expects to see a lighter yield. Remaining fruit could grow to calibres that become difficult to market. Red apples are grown almost exclusively for the domestic market and South African consumers tend to avoid very large red apples, expecting a mealy taste experience.
“Everyone is in high spirits, the harvest is there, we just have to get it off now,” he says.
Author: Carolize Jansen
FreshPlaza.com
