Technical report: water stewardship for stone fruit farmers

The report evaluates water consumption in peach and plum orchards in the Western Cape, finding that while South African farmers are significantly more water-efficient than global averages, local improvements are possible through better irrigation scheduling and the adoption of drip irrigation over micro-sprinklers. It also details a pilot project testing the AWS standard across nine farms, identifying drought, social risks (theft), and regulation as primary concerns for farmers, and recommending the alignment of the AWS standard with other agricultural certifications like GlobalGAP.

• South African stone fruit production in the Western Cape is significantly more water-efficient than global averages, with agricultural water footprints for apples, nectarines, peaches, and plums being 2 to 10 times smaller than global average values.
• Drip irrigation is more efficient than micro-sprinkler irrigation; for example, drip-fed plums required far less water per tree (3,750 litres) compared to micro-jet-fed peaches (6,012 litres) despite similar transpiration levels.
• There is significant potential for water savings (up to 20-30%) if farmers use correct crop factors (Kc) for irrigation scheduling rather than assuming a default value of 1.0, particularly for micro-sprinkler irrigated peaches where actual evapotranspiration is on average 0.7 of reference evapotranspiration (ET0).
• Farmers in the Breede catchment identify drought, social risks (specifically theft and vandalism of irrigation infrastructure), and regulatory uncertainty as the highest risks to their operations.
• Water quality testing across participating farms revealed varied issues, including elevated electrical conductivity (EC) due to local geology and salinity, and instances of high faecal coliforms or nutrient increases (nitrates and phosphates) in runoff.
• The pilot testing of the AWS standard suggests that while it provides a useful framework for engagement, farmers prefer it to be aligned or integrated with existing standards like GlobalGAP to avoid the burden of multiple separate certifications and audits.
• Climate change is expected to increase evaporative losses in the Western Cape by 10-15% by 2030, making efficient irrigation scheduling critical for sustainable farming.

APA

Dzikiti, S., & Schachtschneider, K. (2015). Technical report: water stewardship for stone fruit farmers. WWF South Africa. http://awsassets.wwf.org.za/downloads/wwf_water_stewardshiptechreport_2015.pdf

Chicago

Dzikiti, S., and K. Schachtschneider. Technical report: water stewardship for stone fruit farmers. WWF South Africa, 2015. http://awsassets.wwf.org.za/downloads/wwf_water_stewardshiptechreport_2015.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dzikiti |first1=S. |last2=Schachtschneider |first2=K. |title=Technical report: water stewardship for stone fruit farmers |publisher=WWF South Africa |date=January 2015 |url=http://awsassets.wwf.org.za/downloads/wwf_water_stewardshiptechreport_2015.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dzikiti2015technical, author = {Dzikiti, S. and Schachtschneider, K.}, title = {{Technical report: water stewardship for stone fruit farmers}}, institution = {WWF South Africa}, year = {2015}, month = jan, url = {http://awsassets.wwf.org.za/downloads/wwf_water_stewardshiptechreport_2015.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }