Vine and Tree Fruit Crop Report 28.03.24

Vine Fruit

Almost 70,000MT of the projected 85,000-90,000MT of the South African dried vine fruit crop has been delivered. The quality is very good and drying conditions with one or two exceptions due to rain are also extremely favourable for producing top-quality dried fruit.

The latest indications are that 45,000MT of the production will be dried as Thompsons, 18,000MT as Golden Sultanas, 4,000MT as SA Sultanas and 4,000MT as Flames and the balance will be dried as currants, OR Sultanas or Jumbos. Sales are progressing well due to the short supply from other production areas. South Africa should be able to confirm final crop size during the month of April.

Tree Fruit

Elberta type Peaches

The Elberta harvest is currently looking good referring to both fruit size and colour. The drying weather is still excellent. There is however fruit with sunburn damage which occurred in weeks 6-7, when there were 10 days of temperatures above 35°C and up to 44°C. Some fruit might be lost due to these circumstances, but it is still too early to see the full effect, as farmers are still processing the fruit. The harvest is no longer 10-14 days ahead of schedule as cooler nights have brought it back to a normal season.

Pears

The first pears - Early BC's, were delivered in week 8 of 2024. The fresh harvest looks good, as do the sugar levels. The drying weather is still excellent, but dew has been occurring every night for the past 7 nights. We still expect to receive the required number of dried pears that is needed to fulfil demand.

Prunes

The crop size is smaller than last year. Fresh prices locally has a big influence on available prunes for the drying industry. A big chunk of the fresh crop was also lost to sunburn in weeks 6-7, when prune trees started dropping burned fruit due to the excessive heat and very strong, warm winds in the Breede River Valley where 90% of all prunes are produced.

via Belfrudis