South Africa: Fresh Deciduous Fruit Semi-annual
The severe drought in the Western Cape, will severely impact the availability of irrigation water in the 2017/18 MY. As a result, the 2017/18 MY production and export of deciduous fruits is expected to decrease significantly. The impact of the drought to the 2017/18 MY production could have been more severe; however, the effect was partially offset by new orchards that came into full production. United States apples from areas free of Rhagoletis pomonella (apple maggot) are desired for their big size and may have market opportunities in South Africa during periods of low supply or when its offseason.