The severe drought in the Western Cape is taking its toll on key industries that are the province's mainstay of economic activity. This year the wine industry, which accounts for 4% of global production and is the seventh-largest global producer, is bracing for its smallest harvest in more than a decade. Last year the wine industry generated revenues of about R9-billion and recorded a 4% increase in volume to 401 million litres despite concern that land under tillage was shrinking. The area under vines has been shrinking since 2007. In 2016 the total area under vines amounted to 95 775 ha compared with 100 568 ha in 2011 - a 5% decline over that time. Francois Viljoen, consultation service manager at VinPro, said the drought that had been prevalent in the province for three consecutive seasons would affect the 2018 harvest. "Most of the industry's large irrigation dams are 30% to 40% full. This means that wine-grape producers' water resources were cut by 40% to 60% and they could no...
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