Increase citrus yield, packouts and quality with shade nets

In a consumer-driven market that is picky about the appearance of fruit, producing brightly coloured produce with zero blemishes is vital to catch the eye of shoppers. Erecting nets over citrus orchards increases the chances of a superb packout. Lindi Botha reports on how farmers should approach this costly but fruitful undertaking.

- Lindi Botha

The use of netting for agricultural applications has increased significantly in the past few years. This is not only due to the protection nets offer against increasing incidents of hail, but also because of the ample benefits to packout rates.

Research conducted by Citrus Research International (CRI) shows that nets bring benefits like increased yields, a faster time to maturity, reduced production costs and better risk management.

Paul Cronjé, a researcher at CRI, highlights the greater importance of gaining these benefits: "The rapid expansion of citrus plantings across South Africa will have a definite and significant impact on the South African citrus industry. Whether markets will absorb the increased fruit supply and what the subsequent repercussions on the current profit margins in the next five to 10 years will be is unclear and somewhat unsettling. "Another more worrying problem is the issue of climate change and its effects on citrus production, as current projections identify South Africa [...] will be significantly affected.

"During the past few years, high temperature extremes have increased, while low temperature extremes have decreased significantly.

"Some of the warmest monthly temperatures have recently been recorded, and even higher temperatures and more frequent warmer days are predicted," he said.

COSMETIC DAMAGE

As a result, Cronjé predicts small fruit-size problems will increase, as well as orchard water usage, and fruit cosmetic damage due to wind, hail and sunburn. Long-term strategic planning and embracing the latest research findings and subsequent novel on-farm technologies will be the main determinate of producer wealth and competitiveness of the industry. This is where shade-netting can play a significant role as it mitigates many of the risks associated with climate and market-related challenges.