Mapping success for growers

CapeFarmMapper is an online mapping portal assisting users with agricultural planning and environmental management. By Ilyaas Rhoda.

Geographic information systems (GIS) can be daunting for many people due to their complexity. They involve large amounts of spatial data, technical terminology, and specialised software. CapeFarmMapper was created to make things easier by offering a free, user-friendly platform where anyone can access and use all available datasets.

To explore this online mapping application and learn how it supports growers, Fresh Quarterly spoke with Dr Mike Wallace, GIS Team Leader and Specialist Scientist at the Western Cape Department of Agriculture.

CapeFarmMapper essentials

CapeFarmMapper is a web portal offering a rich collection of data tailored to the agricultural sector’s needs. By providing easy access to vegetation data, soil composition, water resources, and other data, the platform enables growers to make more informed decisions about their crops.

By leveraging this data, fruit growers can better understand the natural conditions that could affect their orchards, allowing them to optimise irrigation practices and enhance soil management. These efforts contribute to healthier crops, better yields, and improved sustainability.

Additionally, the portal offers detailed information on farm boundaries and municipal borders, which helps growers navigate legal and administrative requirements and ensures they can manage their land and resources more efficiently.

Simplifying data sources for growers

Wallace says that gathering important data for farming and planning can be challenging. Collecting all the necessary information usually requires potentially time-consuming and frustrating visits to different organisations.

“To make this easier, CapeFarmMapper brings together data from multiple trusted sources into one simple platform,” says Wallace. “This saves users time and effort, allowing them to sit down and access all the data in one place. You can layer or analyse various datasets, making it easier to understand and make decisions.”

CapeFarmMapper also has tools to create high-quality maps that are perfect for reports or presentations. The platform offers geoprocessing tools to help users manage and analyse geographic information.

The best part? It’s completely free. This amazing initiative is fully funded by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, covering software licence agreements and the GIS development team, which constantly improves the web portal and shares third-party data on the platform.

“The platform is especially valuable in the Western Cape region because it is a unique area for farming and natural resources,” comments Wallace.

Having this tool at their fingertips is a game-changer for organisations and individuals working on farm projects or planning developments. Wallace notes that CapeFarmMapper, with more than 50 000 users every month, is not only popular within South Africa but is also gaining attention from people abroad.

“Whether you’re a local farmer or someone planning a project from overseas, this tool provides essential information and resources to make your work easier, faster, and more effective,” says Wallace.

A tool to improve efficiency

According to Wallace, the CapeFarmMapper portal offers growers everything they need to understand the land and climate conditions directly affecting their crops. It helps them explore important factors like topography (the shape of the land), aspect (which direction a slope faces), and climate parameters such as chill units, average temperatures, and rainfall. These details affect how well certain fruit types can grow on a farm.

“If you’re thinking of expanding your fruit-growing operations or venturing into new types of fruit, this platform is the perfect tool to explore potential growing areas,” says Wallace. “You can easily compare the climate and land conditions of different locations to see which are best suited to your desired fruit type.”

Whether they’re growing apples, pears, or plums, understanding the chill units and temperature ranges will help producers pinpoint the most productive sites for their crops.

“Another valuable feature for fruit farmers is the detailed information on infrastructure related to fruit production,” says Wallace. “The platform provides data on pack houses, cold-storage facilities, and cold-chain infrastructure.”

Knowing these facilities’ locations can help growers optimise their logistics, reduce costs, and ensure fruit reaches buyers in top condition.

User inputs shape continuous improvements

Wallace feels fortunate to have in-house developers, allowing CapeFarmMapper to be highly responsive to client needs. “We actively listen to what our users are asking and can adapt the platform accordingly,” he says. “At its core, CapeFarmMapper is a government tool designed to serve our clients — whether they are farmers, agricultural organisations, or researchers.”

The CapeFarmMapper team engages closely with the farming community by attending agricultural shows, farmer days, and other industry events. This allows them to gather feedback directly from farmers, farming organisations, and researchers.

“Their input, along with insights from decision-makers at municipal, provincial, and national government levels, helps shape the continuous improvements and new features we offer on the platform,” states Wallace.

These could include accessing real-time data by connecting the increasing number of field sensors to CapeFarmMapper, allowing users to access live insights through the platform.

“As our Department’s climate change strategy continues to develop, we’ll also be adding more climate-related information,” says Wallace. “This will be important as more people are interested in understanding how climate change impacts agriculture and farming practices.”

Overall, CapeFarmMapper’s insights can improve productivity and sustainability, making it a valuable resource for growers looking to maximise their land’s potential.

Visit the app online to try CapeFarmMapper for yourself.

How the fruit industry uses CapeFarmMapper

I find CapeFarmMapper a useful tool for quickly referencing Surveyor General information (title-deed name, number, and area) and determining boundaries when assisting growers. For example, when our area suffered flood damage and growers submitted applications to rehabilitate rivers and flood damage to orchards, CFM was an easy reference for the required information.

Keith Bradley, General Manager: Fruitways AgriServices.

With the advent of certification requirements focused on environmental and resource management, Cape Farm Mapper, with the abundance of natural resource layers, can be very useful to fruit growers.

Additionally, it is another tool in the toolbox for future planning and development. For example, contour and aspect layers can be helpful.

Graeme Krige, General Manager: Fruitmax Agri.