Ian Clayton
South Africa’s R23,7-million worth of agricultural products started changing complexion last year, with crops more conducive to small-scale farming showing growth and those which were heavily assisted in the past, such as maize, wheat and sorghum, all declining.
The contribution of agriculture to the gross domestic product dropped to 4,1% from 4,5% in 1997 and 5,8% in 1989. The changing patterns of production in 1998 could be the most significant development in agriculture since 1994.
Last year, the winter crops, canola and lupins went up by 90,9% and 328,6%, but wheat production dropped by 33%. Among summer crops, the production of sunflower seed went up by 47,6%, groundnuts by 88,5% and dry beans by 31,4%, but maize decreased by 4,3% and sorghum by 33,3%.
The income from sunflower seed increased by 60,8% to R759-million, citrus by 7,4% to R1 265-million, subtropical fruits by 25,6% to R618-million, while the volume of exports of avocados increased by 98,6% and the income from the export of avocados by 86,4% to R912- million. The income from vegetables amounted to R3 580-million, an increase of 11,2%, with the income from potatoes, 41% of the vegetable income, increasing by 14,5% to R1 464-million.
These trends, taken from the national Department of Agriculture’s 1998 Economic Review, were to some extent influenced by the weather, but overall they show growth in more intensive farming, potentially at least more small-scale.