Hailstorm destroys crops
A severe hailstorm caused major damage to avocado, citrus and macadamia orchards, as well as tobacco fields in the areas west and north-west of Mbombela on Saturday evening.
MBOMBELA – Farmers in Alkmaar, Schagen and Brondal had to watch helplessly as whole orchards were destroyed by hail on Saturday.
Fruit was hit off trees. Other fruits were damaged to such an extent that they are likely to fall off too and those remaining – especially avocados – will no longer be exportable due to marks caused by hailstones.
A farmer near Schagen said he probably lost 30 to 40 per cent of his macadamia crop while one at Brondal said up to 85 per cent of his macadamia crop could be lost.
Henry de Pradines of Oewersig in the Alkmaar area said his entire farm was hit by the storm and all orchards were affected. Some were planted with cultivars intended exclusively for the export market.
He said the avocados were almost ready to be picked. “We could have started harvesting in January, but those fruits were smashed by the hail.”
Damage was more noticeable on the eastern side of the rows of trees.
Because marks hardly visible on younger fruits will become more noticeable and the fruit could even fall off later, the damage is actually more severe than it seems, but fortunately most of the crops were insured.
During Lowvelder’s visit, a two-man team from Santam Agriculture was already busy assessing the damage.
According to Victor Styger, it is too early to estimate the extent of the damage. “We are currently surveying the quantity as well as the quality of damage and a final assessment can only be made closer to the actual harvest time, when we know how much more fruit has gone to waste or would be unusable even for the local market.”
Their calculations were based on a sample of six to 12 trees from each orchard. All the fruit that fell off those trees was counted to calculate an overall loss. The extent of the damage was further determined by the value of the different cultivars.
De Pradines hoped that some fruit will still be suitable for the local market. “Those with marks only will probably still sell locally,” he said.
They agree that such a severe storm was unusual for this time of year. “Hailstorms of this magnitude usually occur earlier in the season.”
