CELC revises underestimated crop production

The Crop Estimates Liaison Committee (CELC) says current estimated total production figures are higher, comparing with its September estimates, because previous estimated yields in certain provinces were too low, while the impact of the mid-summer drought was overestimated, BDLive reports.

The committee said on Thursday that the South African Grain Information Service's final crop production figures for the year were calculated by adding figures from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' maize utilisation survey, and the telephonic survey conducted by the National Crop Statistics Consortium.

According to BDLive, the committee attributed the underestimation of the maize crop to the mid-season dry spells in February and March this year and the fact that dry land maize did not look good on the fields during earlier inspections, but had since realised better yields than expected. The CELC's revised crop production figures show that the commercial maize crop was now 11.8-million tons. Previously, it had earlier estimated a figure of 11.5-million tons.

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