THE 2021/22 agricultural season started with rising concerns of heavy rains, where in parts of the country this resulted in floods. It does not come as a surprise to see the price of the tomatoes going up by as much as 11% to R272 a kilogram.
The big tomato company producers like ZZ2 are among the affected groups who experienced excess of rain that damaged their tomatoes. The repercussions of more rain and persistent extremely cloudy weather was that tomatoes did not ripen on time.
There is no shortage of evidence that farmers in various regions are worried that they won’t complete the usual area for their produce, negatively affecting the agricultural economy in provinces such as North West, the Free State, and parts of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
It is a relief to learn from the estimates released by the Department of Agriculture, Land reform and Rural Development’s crop estimates committee that the 2021/22 summer crop plantings are 4.21 million hectares, which is 0.4% more than the 2020/21 production season.
“This data is comforting and the first bit of information that suggests that while the recent rains have food security is still protected. The weather conditions for the next two months remain critical for the ultimate crop yields for the 2021/22 season,” said Minister Thoko Didiza.
The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development’s pursuit of food security for its country is commendable. Such an effort must be extended to help affected farmers who lost crops during the floods.
MPHAHLELA M RAMMUTLA | Pretoria
Daily News