South Africa’s central maize and sunflower growing areas are extremely dry and as a result sales of sunflower and maize seed for the 2003/04 season are going poorly, Advata Africa Seeds marketing director Fanie le Roux said on Tuesday.
“This season is very difficult and in my 15 years of selling seed this is the worst year. Some people are saying that the conditions at this point in the season are worse than 1992 and could be as bad ats the drought in 1933,” Le Roux added.
“This is the driest season in many people’s lifetime. You people in the city don’t know what is happening in the platteland,” he said.
The agricultural crop seeing good seed sales is sorghum, which is very drought resistant, Le Roux said.
“Sales of sorghum seed are three to four times better than last year and as a result we are bringing in a ship of sorghum seed from Australia,” he added.
“I’m worried about sunflower and maize this year, there needs to be good rain of about 50 millimeters in the next two to three weeks. Farmers have also struggled to get financing this season,” Le Roux said.
“If there is no good rain in the next two to three weeks then maize and sunflower grain prices are going to go up a lot further,” he added.
“Conditions are very poor for local farmers — except for the irrigation areas. Given the low dam levels, farmers are wary to plant unless there is good rain,” Le Roux said.
At 0950 on the JSE Securities Exchange South Africa’s agricultural derivatives division, December white maize was quoted down R18 a ton at R910 while December sunflower declined two rand to R2 139 a ton. – I-Net Bridge