Harvester at work
South Africa raised its forecast for wheat output by 2.5 percent as deliveries of the grain in the Western Cape Province increased, according to the Crop Estimates Committee.
The nation produced 1.8 million metric tons for the 2013 season.
According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, South Africa, a net importer of wheat, is sub-Saharan Africa’s largest producer of the grain after Ethiopia and the region’s biggest buyer after Nigeria and Sudan.
The area South African farmers’ plant with corn will probably decline 2.5 percent in 2014 to 2.71 million hectares (6.7 million acres) after growers substituted the crop with oilseeds such as sunflowers.
The estimate for white-corn plantings fell 2.8 percent to 1.57 million hectares from a year earlier, while that for yellow corn was cut 2.2 percent to 1.14 million hectares.
Cornmeal made from the white variety is used for a staple food known as pap in South Africa, while the yellow type is mostly fed to animals.
The sunflower area will surge 23 percent to 618,400 hectares, while that for Sorghum will increase 19 percent to 74,700 hectares. Soy plantings may drop to 516,000 hectares while the dry bean area may increase 29 percent to 56,170 hectares. The groundnut area will probably rise 6.6 percent to 50,000 hectares.
The importance of statistical surveys, updating of production records and weather data is very important in predicting agricultural outputs etc.
