Knittex shade cloth protects export table grape

Dawie Erasmus produce export table grapes with five cultivars.

These are; Prime, Flame Seedless, Black Gem, Red Globe (28mm diameter berry) and the seedless cultivar; Crimson which is for the British market. The European and Eastern markets call for pitted cultivars. Less than .5% of the total production reaches the local market. The grape bunches are thinned out early to improve the quality of the product optimally, thus very little of the end production is below standard.

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F A R M I N G U N D E R C O V E R

A PRODUCED UNDER PROTECTIVE COVER

sked why growing produce under shade netting, Erasmus said that his main goal is to prevent damage to his grape crops by severe hail storms. "As a matter of fact, in 1999 I experienced my first severe hail storm, but reached my production target notwithstanding - I can only ascribe the success to producing under protective covering". The production area under shade netting totals 30ha. Further advantages of farming under protective cover are the prevention of wind damage and keeping out of birds - although this particular farm experience seldom intervention by birds.

5 January • February 2006

EXPORT TABLE GRAPES

Driving through the green farmlands of Marble Hall district, the net-covered vines capture the attention.

One of the area's export table grape farmers, Dawie Erasmus and his wife, IlsĂŠ farms on Kleinklipput where they produce grapes under netting.

EXPORT TABLE GRAPES

from page 5

The shade netting on the production unit was entirely supplied by Knittex through their local representative, Jurie Duvenhage who calls regularly to inspect the installation with Dawie. All the cabling and anchors are supplied by Rob Stockl of Rope Construction. According to Erasmus, the duckbill anchoring system works excellent for him and the system supporting the shade netting is well designed and installed to withstand winds of high velocity. The traditional wooden supports for the vines carrying grape bunches are exchanged for wire spanned and cross braces of special diameter steel wire which joins the support poles in such a way that it withstand strong wind. Before, the rigid wooden cross members had upright poles break under stress of strong gusts. The wire bracing method is also less costly and saves on labour too.

Runners of light plastic are used to cover the rows of bunches carrying vines to keep away too much rain as it causes the berries to burst - in the case of seedless cultivars, 'ring neck' cracks appear on the top of

the berry around the area where the stem meets the berry. This obviously makes the bunch loose export potential. The plastic which is placed over the rows at an angle for run-off, is fitted with small plastic clips which ensures wind does not remove the plastic once installed.

Dawie Erasmus uses micro irrigation on his whole production area.

He found that in winter it is better to keep his plants moist since the area does not become extremely cold. The micro jet pods are hung up on the center wire just above the plants from the first of May and serves five minutes of water every half an hour. In summer though, the micro-jet stands are lowered and stuck onto the soil to keep the moisture on the ground but also to keep the leaves and bunches cooled off against the severe heat. This method seems to have a very positive effect on the production.

The production system is certified by Europgap, and Erasmus feel comfortable with it as it motivates the farmer to strictly control his operation, specifically the spraying programmes. The BRC certification ensures that pack house programmes like hygiene control is firmly in place.

PPECB inspection is annually executed on the cooling chambers. The farm employs thirty people on a permanent basis and makes use of temporary employment from the labour force in the local area during peak seasonal activities.

Harvesting starts when the earlier cultivars start ripening in the 43rd week up to the 3rd week in the new year. "The progressive ripening of the different cultivars are as such that the packing programme runs smoothly throughout and no 'bottleneck' situation is experienced, " says Dawie. Around four thousand boxes of grapes are harvested per hectare.

Pruning is done from mid June until the end of July.

When the bunches are brought into the pack house, the temperature is around 30° Celsius and it is immediately cooled down to about 21°C, taking around half an hour. The grapes must be cooled off within six hours from picking otherwise the production is lost. From an initial cooling chamber it is sorted and packed according to the customers order and moved into a cold room at about 0°C. The excellent neat pack house is fitted with up to date equipment and

U N D E R C O V E R

the staff are adequately dressed to ensure top hygienic packing circumstances.

"Setting up such an establishment might seem expensive, but the return on capital makes it worthwhile as our clients are satisfied with our product and the circumstances under which the product is produced and processed for exporting," Erasmus said. His foreign customers visit his operation regularly.

On the question of problems experienced in the table grape market, Erasmus hinted at the over supply of table grapes to the overseas markets. Unfortunately there are marketing operators who purchase total crops from farmers with the understanding that the marketer has a foreign 'ready market', which turns out to be non-existent. The farmer never sees the agent again and subsequently loses his income. Dawie advises fellow producers to be alert to such hoaxers and to ensure the agent is part of an accredited export organization in order not to sink his own ship. There is not too much grapes on the market for exporting; but there are far too many export agents who operate on a fly by night basis.

Dawie belongs to EXSA, a producer oriented export organization that exports between five and six million boxes of grapes annually. Dawie and IlsÊ Erasmus runs a smooth export table grape production unit that is an example to other farmers in terms of good risk management and good relations between client and producer. ž

F A R M I N G

Dawie Erasmus and his wife IlsĂŠ with an example of their export grapes.

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