The production teams on the Karsten Group’s farms in the Orange River are taking a well-earner rest after 3,3 million cartons of grapes for the export market this season.
“Despite the fact that the weather posed some challenges during the final week of the season, we had an excellent harvest,” says Piet du Plessis, General Manager of Karsten farms in the Orange River. “We started in week 45 and managed to land more than one million cartons in the market before Christmas, which is a great performance on its own,” says Mr Du Plessis.
Mr Du Plessis says one of the group’s earliest farms, Raap & Skraap, which is located on the South African side of the Orange River north of Pofadder, managed to pack 1,02 million cartons for the first time. “Almost half this volume reached the market before Christmas. In general we had excellent quality and berry-size.
Meanwhile it has been confirmed that the total crop in the Orange River region exceeded 16 million cartons, which is 500 000 cartons more than the predicted volume.
Peu Bezuidenhout of Rekopane Estates says some growers were affected by hail and rain, but in general the Orange River had a good season. “We had our fair share of disappointments in previous seasons, but this year we packed an excellent crop.”
The estimate for the South African crop is now projected by SATI at somewhere between 49,4 million cartons and 51,7 million cartons. According to SATI most of the production regions either reached their estimate of exceeded it. The exception is the Berg River region, where the total crop is expected to drop from an estimated 11 million cartons to 10,3 million cartons. SATI says the Berg River estimate may well drop further.
The earliest region in the North of the country packed 4 million cartons despite disruptions by un-seasonal weather, the Olifants River is on target with around 1,7 million cartons and the late crop in the Hex River Valley is predicted at between 18 and 20 million cartons.
The South African table grape season is expected to continue to early April, underlining the country’s ability to supply the international market with fresh grapes for more than six months.
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