Agriculture
(a) What are the contents of the memorandum of agreement that was signed with Potatoes South Africa, (b) how important is the potato industry when compared to other agriculture sectors in the province, (c) what are the challenges experienced by potato farmers in the province, (d) what is his Department doing to assist the industry and (e) why is this memorandum limited to three years only?
3. a) The content includes the following:
- Capacity Building and the parties are committed to assisting each other in building the capacity of farmers and agricultural advisors in the potato industry in the Western Cape.
- Potatoes SA is to assist in facilitating access to markets.
- Potatoes SA must nominate, in writing, a person from the potato industry to serve as Chairperson of the Vegetable Commodity Project Allocation Committee of the Department, assuming all the roles and responsibilities accompanied thereto.
- The Parties will create opportunities to share information, experiences and knowledge on matters of mutual interest and technical matters.
- The Parties undertake to collaborate with each other in offering sector skills development programmes to land reform beneficiaries within the potato sector in the Western Cape Province.
b) Below are some important information relating to the potato industry:
- 67% of the potatoes produced in the Western Cape are sold by informal traders.
- The potato sector has 55 000 employees.
- The Sandveld region of the Western Cape alone produces 10% of the potatoes of SA.
- The Western Cape potato industry produces potatoes for the whole spectrum of the value chain i.e. export, table potatoes, tubers and processing.
The Table below show the relevance of the potato crop of the Western Cape in relation to other Vegetables. Potatoes and Onions are the largest vegetable commodity in SA.
Item | Production - WC 2022 | ||||
Ha | Tons | Price | Turnover (R billion) | Avg. yields/ha | |
Potatoes | 6 870 | 322 890 | 4 700 | 1, 517 | 47 |
Onion | 7 500 | 412 500 | 4 500 | 1, 856 | 55 |
Butternut | 1 100 | 33 000 | 4 800 | 0, 158 | 30 |
Pumpkin | 511 | 15 330 | 2 960 | 0, 453 | 30 |
Carrots | 1 215 | 42 525 | 4 240 | 0, 180 | 35 |
Cabbage | 1 157 | 16 204 | 2 980 | 0, 482 | 14 |
Other Vegetables | 4 915 | 73 718 | 4 000 | 0, 294 | 15 |
*Data received from BFAP
c) The major challenges include the following:
- High input costs as a result of the hike in fuel and fertilizer prices of up to R300 000/ha.
- Constant load shedding as pack sheds cannot function and farmers cannot complete irrigation schedules on time.
- Lack of virus-free/disease free planting material due to lack of an effective alternative rotation system for crops for the area.
d) The Department is continuing with the Commodity approach to speed up and support new farmers in the industry. Furthermore, the Department still assists with soil and water analysis, training and capacity building of farmers as well as support with market access programmes. In addition, the Department continues to provide extension and advisory support to farmers.
e) Three years is long enough in the potato industry, and it will allow the parties to learn lessons and review the MOU to accommodate changes in the sector.
