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The first new story in this week’s edition of Farmer’s Weekly takes a look at the litchi harvesting season starting in December. Ryan says that farmers are concerned about the lack of work permits being issued to foreign workers by the Department of Labour.

The shortage of labour for litchi picking is already a problem since the peak harvest period was between 25 December and 1 January, and the non-issuance of foreign work permits is exacerbating the issue, adds Ryan.

Head of Mpumalanga Agriculture, Robert Davel, said that ever since the current law governing farmworkers has been placed under review, the permit-issuing system has slowed down drastically. Meanwhile, Hortgro has urged producers to ensure that foreign workers have the legal documentation required for them to work in South Africa.

Another news story takes a look at unregulated water use in the Letaba River catchment in the Magoebaskloof area, which has allegedly resulted in water abuse.

A biologist at the University of Limpopo, Dr Bronwyn Egan, says there are serious concerns that the agricultural activities that had taken place during the past five years in that region could threaten the biodiversity of the area. This is due to the large-scale conversion from forestry to orchids.

Furthermore, data on farmers’ summer crop planting intentions for the 2022/23 season points to yet another large harvest. According to the Crop Estimates Committee’s (CEC) latest statistics, commercial producers had expressed the intention to plant almost 2.6 million hectares of maize in 2023, which is 32 000 hectares less than the hectares planted in the previous season.

Ryan adds that indications are that farmers also plan to plant just over 1.5 million hectares of white maize, which is about 73 000 less than in the previous season.

For sunflower seeds, the expected area planting is expected to reach just over 580 000 hectares, which is just over 90 000 less than the sunflowers planted in the previous season.

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