SA to plant 5% more maize hectares in 2020/21 season

South African farmers are expected to plant 5% more hectares of maize in the 2020/21 season, boosted by favourable weather conditions and higher prices, the government’s Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) said on Wednesday.

The CEC forecast that 2.746 million hectares of maize will be planted for the 2020/21 season. It will comprise 1.686 million hectares for white maize, which is used mainly for human consumption, and 1.059 hectares for yellow maize used primarily as animal feed.