- Loss of chilling, with greater impacts in warm and mid-cool areas (lower impacts in the coldest areas).
- Late-autumn heat.
- Desiccating weather (heat, wind, low RH) during flowering with implications for early, mid and late flowering cultivars, especially in the Breede, Riviersonderend and Klein Karoo, and also in Ceres and Tulbagh.
- More erratic weather and higher frequencies of extreme events such as heat waves, cold snaps in-between warm periods, hail/sleet, etc.
- Altered phenologies and harvest dates resulting from shifting flowering periods for different cultivars (with repercussions for cross-pollination), less synchronization of flowering, increased within-tree variability and mixed maturities, and contracted or extended flowering, all negatively affecting logistics.
- Impacts on yield and fruit quality, including where the fruit developmental period is shortened so that target fruit sizes are not attained and fruit storability is decreased
- Increased fruit sunburn.
- Greater pest pressure in the early season with pests starting earlier and having more generations in this period.
Methods