Vegetable crop production in the drought-ravaged Gamtoos River valley has been cut by an alarming 60% because of the ongoing water scarcity.
The cut in production of potatoes, cauliflower, lettuce and broccoli is not the only blow to hit the valley. While citrus growers battle to keep their trees alive, dairy farmers in the Mondplaas area are having to sell off tracts of farmland to stay afloat and cover the costs of buying in expensive dairy feed, while their pastures die off without water for irrigation.
Farmers plead for easing of quotas
Gamtoos irrigation board chairman, Tertius Meyer, has made an urgent call to the Department of Water and Sanitation to ease agricultural water use quotas from the current 40% restriction, imposed on the 200 farmers who abstract water from the Kouga Dam, to at least 60% of the annual quota allocated.
“Farmers are not coping with the current restricted quotas – it is way too little,” said Meyer, adding that last November’s rains should have led to a realistic increase in water quotas.
Meyer said the lack of water meant that farmers were having to decide whether, or not, to plant their cash crops. While some had chosen to plant reduced areas, others were looking at selling up.
Job losses and less food
Gamtoos farmer Noel le Roux described the situation as “truly critical”. Le Roux has had to cut his staff from 200 to 160 people and will soon confront the possibility of retrenching yet more workers. There is a possibility of re-employing them at a later stage when the water crisis eases.
“It’s a tragedy,” Le Roux said. “Breadwinners are losing their jobs and, while I try to help the affected families, there is only so much I can do with my farm’s dwindling income.”
Fewer crops grown in the valley meant consumers could end up paying more for produce imported from outside the region, he said.
In the Gamtoos valley, vegetable production traditionally takes up the months when citrus is out of season from November to February, but because of the drought, many farmers have had to stop vegetable production.
“There are only five farms in the valley producing vegetables right now. Obviously, that is not enough,” Le Roux said. Citrus farmer Pieter Ferreira said his production had also dropped, and he too had been forced to lay off staff.
“I try to keep my permanent workers on, but when it comes to fruit picking time, fewer seasonal workers will be needed because of lower yields,” Ferreira said.
“My production has dropped quite dramatically, and we will certainly be exporting a lot less fruit than we usually do.”
Water allocation
Ferreira and Le Roux agree that, with the level of the Kouga Dam rising to 49,44% from 47,91% after 18,5mm of rain fell in the catchment recently, raising water quotas would be a solution.
“More water is the only solution,” Ferreira said. “Having more water will benefit everyone. And, for the sake of the unemployed, the sooner this happens, the better.”
While summer temperatures have stayed in the normal range, consistent, strong winds have exacerbated the water problem, pushing farmers’ ability to minimise water usage to the limit.
“Right now, water is extremely precious. We have to make every single drop count,” said Ferreira. – Press release
