US gives the green light to more SA fruit exports

South Africa is set to grow its fruit export volumes to the US after that country’s agricultural officials certified 16 districts in three northern SA provinces as pest-free this month, giving them clearance to export into the US. Growers in Free State, Northwest and Northern Cape Provinces have already targeted grapefruit as the product most likely to do well. Anticipating the US ruling, growers have planted about 500 hectares of new grapefruit trees during the past year. “There are some mature Valencia trees in those northern areas ready for export, but in terms of volume it will mostly be grapefruit because the US is allowing imported grapefruit into the country once its domestic sources from California, Florida, Texas and other states have been exhausted,” Justin Chadwick, CEO of the Citrus Growers’ Association, told FTW. Along with the Citrus Research Institute in Nelspruit, the association worked with the US Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to secure the new pest-free certifications that are prerequisites for exporting to America. “South Africa is the only major grapefruit producer that can supply the US market, and that is why so many growers in the newly certified districts are planting the crop – so they can service that window when domestic grapefruit isn’t available in the US. It’s a lucrative niche. Argentina is also a major grapefruit exporter, but the country doesn’t have the (pest-free) clearances,” Chadwick said.