This was according to André Roux, director of sustainable resource management at the provincial department of agriculture.
Speaking at a recent drought dialogue held at the Cape Institute for Agricultural Training: Elsenburg, Roux said that many questions had been asked about when the drought would finally break.
“We still have a long road ahead of us. After such a drought, it takes three to five years before you can perhaps be comfortable again,” he said.
The two-day dialogue was held to identify the difficulties faced by farmers in the Western Cape because of the drought, and to develop strategies to mitigate its impact.
According to Roux, the low rainfall and high temperature in August and September 2015 had had a serious impact on crops in the province.
“About 200 000t of wheat were lost in the Swartland, while 230ha potatoes were destroyed by heatwaves in the Sandveld area. The fruit industry suffered losses of about R720 million due to smaller fruit produced,” he said.
He added that a reduced wine grape crop could translate to a loss of R525 million when all revenue streams were included.
He warned that the recent good rainfall did not mean that the area was out of the woods yet.
