Bulletin

wall bulletin
South AfricaMain producing and exporting countries

Authors: 超级管理员 | Edit: xingqiang

South Africa is currently in the main maize season (summer), which extends approximately from October to May. The major maize growing areas are centered around Gauteng and include theFree State, Northwest, and Mpumalanga; the vegetation condition index ishighest in the eastern Free State, extending to the Swazi border. For theperiod under consideration, the environmental indices consistently describe asituation of mild drought with rainfall decreasing 6 percent compared with thelast five years, accompanied by slightly above average temperature, increasedPAR, and about 2 percent decrease in biomass accumulation. With some exceptionsin the very northeast (mostly in the northern province) where NDVI remainedconsistently higher than average, NDVI mostly deteriorated during January,particularly so in the westernmost areas. Altogether, indicators point at lowerthan average conditions of the current maize areas, particularly in Decemberand January. The slow start of the season is one of the reasons why, accordingto several sources, South Africa is witnessing a relative shift from maize tosoybean, to be harvested in June. Biomass accumulation indicates average tobelow average conditions in the center and favorable conditions in the Northernprovince and in the two Cape provinces (western Cape and Eastern Cape) whereharvest took place in November. With harvest still three to four months away, Februaryrainfall (important for maize flowering) is the most important variable towatch in South Africa, as it largely determines the outcome of the maizeseason.

Figure 3.32. South Africa crop condition, Oct. 2013-Jan. 2014 (a)