AGRICULTURAL NEWS - The drought is drying up many of the Western Cape’ s wine farms.
A recent study by the South African Wine Industry Information and Systems shows wineries will produce a much smaller harvest in 2018.
The province is the grip of its worst water crisis in a century.
South Africa exports more than 420 million litres of wine annually. But the drought is drying up the vines, which means that a smaller harvest is expected next year.
But AgriSA’s Carl Opperman says that the quality of wines won't be affected.
“In the wine industry, we are expecting that we’ll be down between 6% and 18% this year due to the drought, which will give us a much smaller crop than we’re used to.”
He adds that in the Swartland region, wine production is down by 50%.
