Farmers suffer huge losses due to broken canal

Cape Town - Producers in the Olifants River Valley are currently suffering financial losses of up to R30 000 per hectare after a water canal on the western banks of the river that broke on Monday January 5 left them without water.

January and February are critical irrigation months in the area, Agri Western Cape said on Wednesday.

Damages of nearly R1.1m to vineyards and R300 000 to lucerne crops that have wilted, have been reported.

More than 200 tonnes of the tomato crop in the area have also been lost due to inadequate soil moisture and water loss. Legume, sweet potato and butternut producers are also suffering huge financial losses due to inadequate irrigation.

Meanwhile, damages are escalating because the water quota hasn’t been restored yet, despite the local water users association working around the clock to have the canal repaired.

Producers below Vaalkrans have been without water for two weeks. Other producers are currently receiving only 10% of their usual water quota, while others have received only 2 100 cubic meters of water in two weeks as opposed to needing 16 000 cubic meters of water per week.

Producers said this is the worst disaster on their farms in 38 years. The total damages to production will only be determined after the harvesting season and will have an influence on the 2016 season.

The Chief Executive Officer of Agri Western Cape, Carl Opperman, said an urgent meeting between the department of water affairs, the Western Cape department of agriculture, the Lower Olifants River Water Users Association and Agri Western Cape must be convened to prevent similar future disasters.

“Agri Western Cape is always willing to enter into negotiations with any party regarding issues that impact on our members and the production processes on their farms,” he said.

Opperman said upgrades to the infrastructure of the Clanwilliam dam embankment will result in an additional influx of water into the canal and that long term plans need to be put in place urgently to ensure that the canal will cope with the volume of water in the future.

He thanked all the role players who are working around the clock to repair the canal.