FARMING
WANDILE SIHLOBO: Western Cape’s prospects depend on good winter rain
The west coast of SA, which is well known for good wines and winter grains, has been saddled with below-normal winter rainfall for the past three years. The impact of this is clear from the Western Cape’s dwindling agricultural output. In 2017 the province’s winter wheat production declined by 47% from the previous year, easing to 586,800 tonnes. Because of the province’s large share in national wheat production, the aforementioned decline translated into a 20% reduction in national wheat production to 1.52-million tonnes. This led to a notable increase in wheat imports. The South African supply and demand estimates committee forecasts wheat imports for the 2017-18 marketing year at 1.93-million tonnes. This is a second-largest import volume on record, in data dating back to 1936-37. So far the country has imported about 60% of the seasonal import forecast, and the rest should reach our shores between now and the end of September (the end of the marketing year).Other winter crops su...
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