3. PPECB Annual Report 2009-2010

to receive attention through the Harmonization Programmeis the correct identification of CBS lesions. This aspect is nonnegotiableas there are dire consequences for producerswhose fruit were intercepted with CBS.A total of 100,2 million actual cartons were budgeted forbut at the end of March 2010 only 91,9 million cartons wereinspected and this was mainly due to the decline in demand.In terms of quality rejections increased overall from 2,01%in 2008 to 2,48% in 2009. This can be attributed to thezero tolerance approached followed this season with regardto decay as well as False Codling Moth (FCM) infestation.On a national basis the main rejection reasons were FCMon grapefruit and oranges, decay on soft citrus and blemisheson lemons.All citrus types except for grapefruit were down whenmeasured against the 2008 season. The biggest decline wasexperienced on the Valencia types. When looking at themarkets the European markets took less fruit while theRussian Federation, the Middle East and the Far East werethe star performers.A total of 1 231 720 pallets were exported in 2009 andwhilst there were calls for Maputo to be utilised optimally,more than half of the citrus crop were still exported throughDurban. Volumes through Cape Town port declined furtherwhilst Maputo and Port Elizabeth remained stable. Mucheffort was put into opening Port Elizabeth up for exports toJapan for the first time and it is hoped that producers willtake full advantage of this opportunity as it will benefit theregion immensely. It will also take some truckloads off theroad as the need for road transport to Durban will be reduced.Programme: Pome and Stone FruitThe impact on the volumes for the 2009/10 season weremore than a million cartons downward, largely due todamage caused by adverse weather conditions (hail, rain,wind and heat waves) during the first months of production.Compared to the previous season the biggest impact wasexperienced on the 2 main plum cultivars Laetitia (-18 %)and Songold (-11%). A record nectarine crop of 2, 5 million(+29%) equivalent cartons were exported during the periodunder review. Amidst threatening economic forces faced bystone fruit marketers and nature’s challenges, the industrymanaged to export 11, 6 million cartons (1% down onbudget for the fiscal) for export. The lighter crop, the globaleconomic crisis, the strong Rand and the adverse weatherconditions in the EU continent combined made it a challenging2009/10 season. The production of plums in the SouthernHemisphere was 17% down (SA -12% and Chile -21% afterthe earth quake). Although the demand was very strongduring the latter part of the season due to the shortage ofplums, the income of producers was under threat due to afairly strong Rand.The 2009 pome fruit season was a normal season and thepome crop was 1% lower than last season. The total applecrop was 6% (1,5 million cartons) lower compared to lastyear. Forelle pear volumes were 6% higher than last yearmainly due to new hectares that were coming into production.The total pear crop was also 9% (1,28 million cartons) highercompare to last year.Notwithstanding the apple crop in the Southern Hemisphereat 10,5 million cartons lower than last year, the apple stockin the EU Continent was 24,8 million cartons (62%) higherthan last year, a record for the last 4 years. This illustratesthe difficult season end for apples due to the worldwiderecession and oversupply of apples. On the whole thepome season were fairly moderate and volumes were 7%(2 582 915 cartons) above budget due to the positiveexchange rate during 2009.DAFF recently lifted the ban on importing apples from theUSA and apples were imported during December 2009 forthe first time from the USA. These apples were imported atR200 per carton.PPECB | annual report | 2009 - 2010 49