The news that the Western Cape has received more rain than expected in June has been generally well-received by the Western Cape agricultural industry, according to the department of agriculture.
Western Cape farmers are expected to complete the planting season under favourable conditions following good rains in the first week of June and much-needed rains on the planted winter grain crops last week.
“ It’s important to note, however, that, for the rest of the season, the frequency of rain (i.e. regular rain without dry spells) is more important than the total volume of rain,” said Ivan Meyer, provincial MEC for Agriculture.
GrainSA’s Crop Estimates Committee highlights that producers hoped to boost winter crop plantings by 6% from the 2020/21 season.Plantings of wheat could increase by 3% in the 2022/23 season to 538 350 hectares, which is significantly above the five-year average of 513 650 hectares.
They said the province is set to plant 350 000 hectares of the total wheat hectares in South Africa.
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