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27 Jun 2023
Orange Tree
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Summer Citrus from South Africa kicks off 25th year

Summer Citrus from South Africa (SCSA) has entered its 25th shipping season with the first fruit arriving in the US towards the end of May.

Despite recent heavy rainfall in the Western Cape and in Citrusdal, where SCSA’s growers are primarily located, the group said it was reorganising after days without electricity, and a lack of access to citrus groves and some roads.

Despite the challenges and a minor setback with timing, SCSA promised that high-quality fruit was on the way weekly for the rest of the summer.

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27 Jun 2023
Flooding
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Citrusdal community bands together to get back on their feet after flood

Rain is still falling over Citrusdal where food has had to be flown in by helicopter to stranded inhabitants after the town’s entrance road was washed away, and now the remaining electricity line has also fallen victim to the flood.  It is expected that the rain will ease off from Wednesday. In the port of Cape Town very high swells have meant that vessels couldn’t enter the harbour; there are currently three vessels waiting to come into port.

Repairs to the town bridge over the Olifants River which was washed away are underway, including correcting the course of the swollen river.

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27 Jun 2023
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Florida citrus crop drops to smallest in nearly 100 years

The price of orange juice will be going up again after Florida farmers produced the smallest citrus crop in nearly 100 years . It was a tough year for the state’s orange trees, which were hit by bad weather and an epidemic of greening disease, which causes the fruit to be bitter. According to analysts, the US will not be able to lean on Brazil for more oranges, as that country’s production was also affected by bad weather.

Since orange production in Florida has been declining in the past decade, some farmers there are considering switching to other crops.

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21 Apr 2023
Powerline in South Africa
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Farmers could lose R500m this year as load shedding adds to SA citrus export woes

Up to a quarter of South African oranges destined for the European Union (EU) might not be shipped due to the impact of load shedding, in addition to new EU regulations – posing a potential loss of more than R500 million for local farmers this year. This warning went out from the Citrus Growers Association of South Africa (CGA) on Thursday. More than 400 000 tons of SA oranges were shipped to the EU in 2022. The citrus export industry supports 140 000 jobs and generates R40 billion in export revenue annually.

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21 Apr 2023
Wind damaged citrus
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Windbreaks – Increased Focus Needed

South-easterly winds coincide with the first 12 weeks after mandarin petal drop. When these winds become more intense between October and December, they can cause up to 87% of the severe wind-scar damage seen in a season. However, says Heinrich Geldenhuys, such losses can be minimised with suitable windbreaks or other forms of wind protection, resulting in higher export volumes of quality fruit. Geldenhuys is a junior researcher who graduated in April 2022 with an MSc in Horticultural Science degree from Stellenbosch University (SU).

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28 Feb 2023
SA Flag
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CGA calls for urgent political intervention to ensure South African oranges continue to be exported to EU in 2023

The Citrus Growers Association of South Africa (CGA) has written to Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel requesting that he urgently calls for the establishment of a World Trade Organisation (WTO) Panel to adjudicate on the new False Coddling Moth (FCM) regime governing the importation of South African oranges to the EU region. If the issue is not resolved before the 2023 export season kicks off, growers could face hundreds of millions in losses putting the future sustainability of the entire industry at risk.

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28 Feb 2023
Cover Crops
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Improve soil health with cover crops

Cover crops support soil health by increasing soil carbon – organic matter – which stimulates microbial activity and improves soil structure.

The impact of cover crops on soil health was discussed at a workshop facilitated by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) held at Oak Valley in Grabouw in August. Ivan Jansen van Rensburg from Barenbrug described eight soil-health benefits of cover crops: sequestering carbon, supporting microbes, suppressing diseases, fixing nitrogen, suppressing weeds, preventing erosion, building structure, and improving aeration and infiltration. Different cover crops have different strengths, so diversity is important. For example, radish roots muscle into the soil, breaking up compaction, enabling water movement. But Jansen van Rensburg pointed out that the finer roots of cereals are as useful as the large roots of radishes.

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30 Sep 2022
Citrus Export
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SA citrus industry voluntarily closes export of Valencias to EU to mitigate CBS risk

With a month left of the current export season, the Citrus Growers’ Association of South Africa (CGA) and the Fresh Produce Exporters’ Forum Boards have taken the decision to voluntarily close the export of Valencia oranges from Citrus Black Spot (CBS) affected areas in South Africa to the European Union (EU) starting from the 16th the September 2022.

Justin Chadwick, CEO of the CGA, has written the following regarding the closure of Valencia exports: “This decision was taken in response to the 10 CBS notifications of non-compliance (NONCs) on SA citrus detected so far this season and the traditional heightened risk that Valencia oranges pose for CBS non-compliance at the tail end of the EU export season.”

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