NEWS
SA COULD HAVE THE LARGEST WHEAT HARVEST SINCE 2002
The Crop Estimate Committee ( CEC ) recently released its sixth production forecast for 2021 / 22 winter
crops .
Annette Willemse Communication Specialist
There were notable changes from the previous update of the end of December 2021 , with the wheat production forecast up by 3 % to 2,21 million tonnes , which is the largest expected wheat crop produced since 2002 , when it was 2,43 million tonnes .
The canola production forecast was also lifted by 4 % from December to 197 000 tonnes , the largest canola crop on record . Meanwhile , barley and oats production forecasts were cut by 3 % and 13 % from December to 331 100 tonnes and 69 950 tonnes .
The Western Cape , the region that grows more than two-thirds of South Africa ' s winter crops , received favourable rainfall since the start of the 2021 / 22 season , which boosted the yields and encouraged farmers to lift the area plantings for wheat and canola . This increase in the Western Cape ' s wheat production overshadowed the annual decline in the Northern Cape , Free State and the Eastern Cape . The other provinces that registered a yearly uptick in production are Limpopo and Gauteng . Still , there are reports of relatively poor quality in some regions of the country because of the heavy rains during the harvest period .
While this is the largest harvest since 2002 , South Africa will remain an importer of wheat . The import requirements for the 2021 / 22 marketing year , which started on 1 October 2021 , is 1,53 million tonnes . This is up by 1 % from the 2020 / 21 marketing year because of a marginal increase in domestic consumption .
6
SENWES SCENARIO | HERFS � AUTUMN 2022