South Africa's 2018 maize crop falls from record harvest

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's 2018, maize output was 26 percent lower than the record crop in the previous year after a dry spell in the western part of the maize belt and delayed crop plantings in other parts, the Crop Estimates Committee said on Wednesday.

The committee said the 2018, harvest totalled 12.510 million tonnes maize, down from the 16.82 million tonnes harvested in 2017 after favourable weather conditions boosted yields.

The crop comprised 6.540 million tonnes of food staple white maize and 5.970 million tonnes of yellow maize.