South Africa’s 2021 maize output up

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s farmers are expected to harvest 6% more maize in the 2020/2021 season compared with the previous season after favourable weather conditions boosted yields, the government’s Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) said on Thursday.

The CEC, which was giving its fourth production forecast for the 2020/2021 summer crops, pegged the 2021 maize harvest at 16.180 million tonnes up from the 15.300 million tonnes harvested last season.

The 2020/2021 maize crop is expected to be the second largest harvest on record. The CEC’s latest estimate is 0.5% higher than the April forecast of 16.095 million tonnes.