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SA 2020/21 final summer crop harvest slightly larger than the previous estimates

Published: 14/02/2022

There was no doubt that South Africa's 2020/21 summer crop harvest would be one of the largest in history following the expansion in area plantings and favourable weather conditions that boosted the yields. Still, the size of the harvest remained tentative as the harvest continued across the country. Only in the second week of February 2022, the Crop Estimates Committee released its final view on the actual size of the 2020/21 summer crop harvest. It is mildly larger than the estimates released in November last year. For example, the 2020/21 maize harvest is 16,3 million tonnes, up by 0,5% from the November 2021 estimate and the second-largest harvest in the history of South Africa. In addition, soybeans 2020/21 final harvest is 1,9 million tonnes, up by 0,4% from November and the largest harvest on record.


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There was no doubt that South Africa's 2020/21 summer crop harvest would be one of the largest in history following the expansion in area plantings and favourable weather conditions that boosted the yields. Still, the size of the harvest remained tentative as the harvest continued across the country. Only in the second week of February 2022, the Crop Estimates Committee released its final view on the actual size of the 2020/21 summer crop harvest. It is mildly larger than the estimates released in November last year. For example, the 2020/21 maize harvest is 16,3 million tonnes, up by 0,5% from the November 2021 estimate and the second-largest harvest in the history of South Africa. In addition, soybeans 2020/21 final harvest is 1,9 million tonnes, up by 0,4% from November and the largest harvest on record.


Groundnut's harvest was lifted by 7% from the November 2021 estimate to 64 300 tonnes. This is up by 25% from the 2019/20 season and the largest harvest in five years. The sorghum harvest was lifted by 0,6% from November to 215 000 tonnes, which is up by 36% from the 2019/20 production season and the largest crop in eight years. The expansion in area plantings and larger yields are also the primary driver of the sorghum harvest.
The sunflower seed harvest was also lifted marginally by 0,1% from November to 678 000 tonnes. However, unlike other summer grains and oilseeds, the sunflower seed harvest is down by 14% from the 2019/20 production season due to reduced area plantings and lower yields in some areas. Due to profitability, some farmers had switched the typical sunflower seed area into maize.

Contrary to the previous seasons where the large harvest would typically add downward pressure on domestic prices, the 2020/21 season was overshadowed by the global events. These were primarily the poor harvest in South America and Thailand and rising demand in China and India, which added upward pressure on global grains and oilseeds prices and after that the South African market.1



1 IMF, “Four Facts about Soaring Consumer Food Prices”, June 24, 2021

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