Project’s grape exports drops by 31%

AUSSENKEHR - The Orange River Irrigation Project at Aussenkehr has decreased its grape exports by 31% during the 2018 harvesting season compared to the preceding year, the manager of the farm, Simon Akwenye says..Akwenye said the project exported 86% its grapes during the 2017 harvest season and only 55% during the 2018 harvest season.Akwenye said that a lack of finances made it difficult for them to access fertilisers and the other necessary chemicals to produce berry size grapes, resulting in them having to sell a larger portion of their produce to the local market.“Most of the time these [grape] trees are only given water and that cannot help them grow fully to reach the required berry size. No one wants to buy grapes that have not met the right berry size and with or without the necessary chemicals, these grapes do grow but the quality is compromise,” he said.He said during the 2018 harvest season 45 424 kg of grapes were sold locally compared to 13 273 kg sold locally in 2017.“In 2017 we harvested 100 320 kg of grapes of which 87 047 kg we exported and in 2018 we harvested 101 715 kg of grapes and we manage to export only 56 291 kg and the rest were sold locally,” he said. MarketAnother element Akwenye also contributed to the decrease in export is that the types of grapes that are produced at the farm are no more in demand as their market are saturated. There is an urgent need for them to start growing other types or varieties of table grapes in order to increase their exports. ORIP currently produces only the Thompson, Flame and Sugraone table grapes on 25 hectares. “We currently produce more of the Thompson and Flame table grapes, which we exported to Europe and the Middle East, but now these types of grapes are produced in many other countries and the market is small. We need to plant other varieties of grapes that are currently demanded by the market,” he said. - Nampa

Project’s grape exports drops by 31%

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Republikein 2026-09-17

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Project’s grape exports drops by 31%

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Republikein 2026-09-17

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