South Africa looks to revive wheat industry

Despite an uptick in area used for wheat production during the 2016-17 marketing year, South Africa is looking for ways to revive its wheat industry, according to a March 15 report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The FAS said wheat production area in the 2016-17 marketing year increased 5% in South Africa, driven mainly by drought conditions in the summer grain producing area that led farmers to plant for wheat instead of other crops. But with weather conditions expected to improve in 2017-18, expectations now are for wheat planting trends to revert back to steady declines that have transpired over the past 20 years, the FAS said.

The FAS said the wheat industry in South Africa is looking for ways to revive the industry, including seeking out higher yielding cultivars, making changes to the wheat grading regulations, and implementing an end-point royalty system to counter farm saved seed.

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