SA is set for yet another bumper maize harvest, with preliminary estimates putting the size of the commercial maize crop for 2021 at 15.9-million tonnes, which is more than enough to satisfy the local demand.
Local consumption per year is 11.4-million tonnes, leaving the balance for export, mostly to other African states.
Agriculture has fared better than other industries, which were battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. The country has also had good summer rainfall so far, leading to better maize yields, the crop estimates committee said on Thursday.
The Free State, Mpumalanga and the North West are expected to produce 84% of maize in 2021. SA produced 15.3-million tonnes in 2020.
Maize is used as a basic input in maize meal and animal feed, among other uses. The area planted to maize was broadly steady at 2.75-million hectares.
In terms of other summer grains, the production estimate for sunflower was 696, 290 tonnes, a drop of 2.3% from 2020, while that of soya beans rose 6.6% to 1.7-million tonnes.
SA’s agricultural exports hit $10.2bn in 2020, a 3% increase from the previous year and the second-largest level on record, the figures from Agricultural Business Chamber showed in February.
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