AGRICULTURAL NEWS - The drought in the Western Cape can affect the long-term growth of the province and South Africa as a whole, if it is not broken soon.
This is according to Dawie Maree, head of information and marketing at FNB Agribusiness.
“The Western Cape is probably South Africa’s most important export province in terms of agricultural products. The deciduous fruit industry, wine industry and increasingly the citrus industry, are all key export [commodities] that contribute significantly to the overall agri-economy of the country,” Maree said.
The recent wide-spread rain across the province had done little to alleviate the dry conditions, according to Maree.
A major implication had been the impact on the wheat harvest, which has had a knock-on effect on wheat prices and possibly the bread price.
