BUSINESS MAVERICK: Zimbabwe forecast to reap biggest maize crop in almost four decades, but yields remain ‘dismal’

  • 📰 dailymaverick
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 38 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 19%
  • Publisher: 84%

United States News News

United States United States Latest News,United States United States Headlines

Zimbabwe is set to reap its biggest maize harvest since the 1984/85 season. That’s because more land has been devoted (or cleared) for the crop. However, yields remain dismal. This poor performance is a warning to South Africa as expropriation without compensation looms.

The US Department of Agriculture said in a brief report last week that: “Zimbabwe’s corn crop for the 2021/22 marketing year is estimated at 2.7 million tons, an increase of almost 200 percent from the 907,628 tons of maize produced in the 2020/21 MY.”

“The Zimbabwe crop performance stems from the increase in area planting as well as relatively good rainfall. The reason we have this level is because the area planted is at a record level. They have planted the largest area of maize ever, which is about two million hectares,” Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa, told“But Zimbabwean yields are still dismal — they are about 1.4 tonnes per hectare,” he noted.

John Robertson, an independent economic consultant based in Harare, said this was in part because of the offer of subsidies which the cash-strapped government probably can’t afford, and a plan to get skilled farmers on the land to repay debts incurred by farmers who were flops.

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 3. in US
 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

It’s better than nothing 😂😄

If yields remain dismal, what was the biggest forecast based on?

United States United States Latest News, United States United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

BUSINESS MAVERICK: Prosus delivers sterling results, but concerns remain around capital allocation and management incentives‘Leave us alone and we will prove ourselves worthy.’ This has been the strategy of Prosus and Naspers management for the longest time. But it has worn thin as issues such as executive remuneration, the share price discount and the latest share swap scheme rose up. But nothing sweetens prospects for investors as much as good results, and the latest results are superb. Will this be a balm for investors?
Source: dailymaverick - 🏆 3. / 84 Read more »