The Pongola of today is far different to what it was in the 1980s. Back then, vegetable farms stretched to the horizon, supplying a wide variety of produce to the area’s markets. Gradually, however, producers began to replace their vegetable crops with sugar cane, as they found the latter far easier to manage.
Today, while sugar cane remains the predominant crop in Pongola, it in turn is under threat of replacement by macadamias.
Brothers Sakkie and André Terblanche have combined the old with the new: their farm, on the outskirts of town, has tomato and sugar cane fields, as well as recently planted macadamia orchards. For them, staying the course with vegetables made business sense, as Basaki Boerdery (Basaki) is one of only three tomato producers in the area, which ensures that they have a stable market.
Lately, however, they haven’t been able to keep up with demand, as tomato leaf miner (Tuta absoluta) is threatening to destroy their livelihood.
“We started noticing leaf miner in our tomato crops around 2014,” says Sakkie. “Up until then, we had to contend with the normal pests and diseases known to affect tomatoes, such as blight and red spider mite, but they were manageable.
“But with Tuta, we found that we couldn’t stay ahead. It takes you out quickly, so you need to act fast.
“We had to completely change our production cycles and management practices […].”
Prior to 2014, Basaki planted seven plots of 7ha each to tomatoes, and these were replanted every 34 weeks. This allowed for a continuous harvest over the 34-week period, yielding between 80t/ha and 100t/ha.
Since the advent of the tomato leaf miner in the area, the Terblanches have reduced the size of the plots to 3,5ha each, and these are now in production for only four weeks. Once the cycle has been completed, the land is returned to sugar cane for at least five years before tomatoes are planted again. This strategy, however, has cut their tomato yield in half, to around 50t/ha.
Sakkie explains that they can harvest only one cycle of tomatoes before the crop is completely destroyed by the pest.
“Tuta affects the plants the minute you plant out the seedlings, and the bigger the plants get, the more expensive it is to control the moths. You therefore need to harvest as soon as you get to four weeks, removing all the tomatoes and then the plants themselves.”
Basaki produces tomatoes throughout the year and has around 24ha planted to the crop at any one time. Due to their shorter tomato production cycle, they focus on varieties that grow faster.
The tomato leaf miner has also influenced their market. Whereas they used to deliver to a supermarket group, the Terblanches found that, in addition to the toll gate and transport fees, the reduced packout rate as a result of the pest meant it no longer made sense to supply this group.
“This client wanted only top-grade tomatoes that didn’t have marks on them. Because the moth leaves marks on the outside of tomatoes when it stings them, this produce had to be excluded, even though the quality inside was still good.
“So we had to sell our top-grade tomatoes at the average market price, well below their true value. We then still had to sell the rest of the tomatoes that didn’t make that grade. In the end, we found it far better to supply the local market, straight from our packhouse. We also saved on transport and packaging fees,” says Sakkie.
As the number of vegetable farmers in Pongola has dwindled, Basaki capitalises on the lack of fresh produce in the area. They supply the surrounding towns and their supermarkets, in addition to the many informal traders who collect produce directly from the farm. They also deliver daily consignments to informal traders.
An alternative production season
Although demand for tomatoes is high, the Terblanches understand that consumers are price-sensitive, which means that hiking prices will not guarantee their sustainability. This presents a major problem, as the costs of the chemicals used to keep T. absoluta under control are mounting.
The infestation starts with larvae that burrow into the leaves of the tomato plant and then move into the stems, eventually killing off the entire plant, often before the tomatoes have had a chance to ripen.