Irrigation farmers are warning of crop failure and higher food prices as intensifying power cuts leave them unable to properly water summer crops.
Grain SA wants Eskom to consider reducing load-shedding in irrigated farming areas until the end of February and introduce steeper cuts in the winter months when less water is needed.
“Farmers are willing to compromise,” said Grain SA head Pieter Taljaard.
Eskom didn’t reply to requests for comment.
Almost all of SA’s fruit and vegetable crops are irrigated, while some field crops such maize rely on rivers including the Orange, Crocodile and Fish rivers for water crops. The systems are heavily dependent on electricity.
Taljaard said load-shedding was an “absolute nightmare” for irrigation farmers, because it meant they had to manually restart pumps and systems that are often spread out over large areas of land. Restarting systems also uses more electricity.
In many cases farmers are unable to water their crops during the power cuts. “Irrigation farmers have told us anything above stage two is not feasible,” Taljaard said.
‘Absolute chaos’
Northern Cape farmer Gerard Bruwer, whose crops include onions, pecan nuts, potatoes, maize, and lucerne said the situation was “absolute chaos”.
Bruwer said if he and fellow farmers in Douglas on the banks of the Orange River cannot water crops sufficiently for a period of two weeks their entire crops will be lost.
“If we can’t produce potatoes, onions, maize and wheat, our country will be without food,” he said, adding that potato prices could rocket.
Bruwer said the situation was “the worst problem” he had faced in 25 years of farming, and there was nothing he could do to solve it.
Farmers in Douglas, Northern Cape, produced a video to plead with Eskom to assist them with sufficient power in order to grow their crops. ( Video at bottom)
Not all farmers irrigate and rains have been higher than usual so far this season, but irrigation farmers in Northern Cape, parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal are struggling.
“It is estimated that about 10% of cultivated land in SA is under irrigation,” said Absa economist Marlene Louw. “The crops and products under irrigation range from commodities such as maize and wheat to high-value crops of which examples are table grapes and citrus,” she added.
“At the end of last year we received reports from table-grape producers that intense load-shedding was impacting their irrigation schedules and that high levels of load-shedding often result in certain areas not being irrigated sufficiently,” Louw added.
“That results in lower production and in some instances also impacts on the quality of production.”
Precision irrigation fundamental for stabilising global food security
Heatwave coming
To make matters worse, intense heat is forecast in several areas under irrigation farming.
“What is currently concerning is the heatwave predicted for certain provinces over the coming days,” Louw said. “That, combined with the current high load-shedding intensity holds a major risk for production and quality of agricultural production under irrigation.”
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Farmers in Douglas have made a video they hope will go viral to explain the “devastating effects” of not being able to water their crops.
“We can save the harvest if we work together,” HF Cilliers says in the video.
Taljaard said entire rural areas like Douglas in the Northern Cape and Prieska were “reeling” and farming and the local economy in these rural areas that rely on agriculture are at risk.
Farmers usually irrigate during off-peak periods when the price of electricity is cheaper, and avoid opening the taps at the hottest time of day when possible. Now irrigation takes place whenever power is available, Taljaard said.
Bruwer said his farm required too much power and installing backup generators could cost as much as R100m, which he can't afford.
Taljaard said some farmers had calculated that using generators to power irrigation systems would be as much as 10 times the price of the equivalent amount of grid-provided power.
Christo Van Rheede, the executive director of agricultural organisation AgriSA, confirmed that the sector is meeting with the Department of Agriculture about load-shedding and the added costs.
Farmers needed government support, van Rheede said. “Without farmers, there will not be any food on the table. It's not companies that produce food or your retailers, it’s farmers.”
