During the harvest season, laborers are paid on a piece-work or daily basis. Piece work wages average 3 cents 

 per 30 pound bag. On a daily -wage basis, seasonal workers are paid approximately 17 cents per hour. Employers also 

 furnish provision for housing. The trend in South Africa is towards piecework wages, both for harvesting and 

 orchard labor, to encourage greater productivity. 



Costs of production and grower incomes 



A cost study of cling peaches produced in 1968 on one large farm in the Western Cape has been done by 

 University of Stellenbosch economists. Although the results of this study cannot be considered representative of the 

 entire producing area, they are illuminating, especially in regard to certain cost factors such as labor. An abbreviated 

 version of the results is given below: 



Production costs of peaches per acre and ton (1967-68 season) 



Cost items Dollars per acre 1 



Preharvest cash costs: 



Cultivation 8.05 



Fertilizers: 



Material (1,551 lbs.) 32.09 



Labor 0.19 



Propping 7.44 



Pruning (17^ per tree) 14.76 



Thinning (20tf per tree) 17.23 



Spraying: 



Material (35tf per tree) 30.76 



Labor (284 per tree) 24.61 



Irrigation 49.05 



Vehicle and misc. costs 1.55 



Equipment repairs 2.38 



Divisional council tax 1.50 



Interest cost @ 8% 15.17 



Total preharvest costs 204.78 



Depreciation 64.91 



Calculated interest on capital investment 114.97 



Harvesting costs: 



Picking (17^ per hour) 10.72 



Transport - 9.25 



Total harvesting costs 19.97 



Total production costs per acre 404.63 



Cost per ton @ 9.26 tons per acre 43.70 



1 Converted from Rands per morgen. One Rand equals $1.40 and 1 morgen approximates 2.1 

 acres. 



2 Represents the income which would have been obtained if the capital had been invested safely 

 on a long-term basis. 



The University also recently released a study comparing costs and income per acre in 1968 for four 

 fruits— apples, pears, apricots, and canning peaches. The results are presented on page 9. They show that in 1968 

 apples realized by far the highest and peaches the lowest net returns per acre. 



