South African growers will plant 484,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) of wheat this year – this is 4.3% less than 2013 when farmers planted 505,500 hectares, and will be the smallest area planted since record keeping began in 1931. South Africa is the sub-Saharan region’s second biggest wheat producer after Ethiopia, but is still a net importer, being the region’s third biggest importer of cereals after Nigeria and Sudan according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data. The causes for the decline in sowing are lack of soil moisture, profitability issues, and the switching to other crops by growers. This year’s South African corn harvest is expected to be 13.9 million tons – the largest since 1981 when the country harvested 14.1 million tons. White corn output, used to make a local food called pap, is set at 7.7 million tons and yellow corn output, mainly used for animal feed, is set at 6.32 million tons. The committee kept its estimates for sunflower and soy production at 853,325 tons and 944,340 tons respectively, and the estimate for sorghum production was raised 9.6% to 255,700 tons.
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