Deciduous fruit farmer Heinie du Toit frets as the worst power cuts on record threaten to take the shine off his apple and pear crops destined for foreign markets.
“Many farmers said this is their last chance and if something doesn't happen very quickly they are going to sell their farms ... It is a huge concern,” Du Toit said as the steady throb of a diesel generator kicked in.
“It's impossible to farm like this, to farm half the amount of seedlings in a season when you're supplying supermarkets. I might as well stop and close the doors,” said Gorgens. Power outages are the latest setback after a drought, the pandemic, bottlenecks at ports and higher commodity prices, such as fuel and fertiliser, due to the Russia-Ukraine war, Du Toit said.
Two big diesel generators help keep conveyor belts and cold storage units functional at the Bella Frutta packaging warehouse as farmers struggle to produce export-quality fruit due to ongoing power cuts.At the Bella Frutta fruit exporters' packaging warehouse in Ceres, two huge diesel generators help keep conveyor belts moving and cold storage units at -1.5°C.of diesel in just under three days to keep operations running.
“We struggle to keep a constant cooling supply to our cold rooms,” said Fransu Viljoen, engineering manager at Bella Frutta, adding it was frustrating to get up before dawn to reset the generators.
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