South Africa’s 2023 maize harvest seen 6% higher than previous year

South African farmers are expected to harvest 6% more maize in the 2022/2023 season compared with the previous season, the government’s Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) said on Tuesday.

The CEC’s final summer crop forecast estimates the 2023 harvest at 16.40 million tonnes, up from the 15.47 million tonnes harvested the season before. The latest estimate is unchanged from the previous one published on Oct. 26.

The harvest is expected to consist of 8.5 million tonnes of white maize, used for human consumption, and 7.9 million tonnes of yellow maize, used mainly in animal feed.

Tags: maize, white maize, yellow maize, harvest, estimate, forecast, South Africa