EXCESSIVE rainfall in parts of the Northern Cape has damaged up to 45% of the grape harvest in the region, leaving the crop down 25% on last year’s, according to industry figures. Excessive rain, which causes crop decay, is estimated to have lopped more than R200m off the income of grape growers in the Orange River region, damaging four million of nine million cartons of grapes. About 200mm of rain fell in the Northern Cape’s Orange River region in December 1999, compared with a December average of about 15mm over the last 50 years, Capespan’s Karsten said.