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THE
GRAIN AND OILSEED INDUSTRY
OF SOUTH AFRICA – A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
ႃႊ
In 1907 research into dryland cultivation of maize started, and in 1911 the first
Congress was held on the topic. At that stage about 863 000 tons of maize had
already been produced in the Transvaal. The research was mainly on moisture
preservation and breeding better seed. The Hickory King cultivar, an early-ripening
maize seed that was suitable for dryland cultivation on the Highveld, was released
in 1912. In the Free State and Western Transvaal good results were also obtained
with the Sahara Yellow cultivar.
Increase in production and consumption
In the period from 1918 to approximately 1930 there was no significant growth in
the areas planted under maize. Maize products did systematically start increasing
after the end of the First World War in 1919, but prices were unstable, marketing
was disorganised and because of the Depression a major shortage of funding
was experienced.
From about 1930, however, maize production started showing a rising trend. Pre-
vailing climatic conditions had the biggest influence on the size of the area plant-
ed under maize, but more modern farming methods and increasing mechanisa-
tion raised yields/unit. In spite of a considerable increase in the use of fertiliser,
tractors and mechanised implements, the average dryland yield for maize before
1939/1940 was less than 1 ton/ha, with the highest, namely 0,94 ton/ha, occurring
in the 1939/1940 season.
The domestic consumption of maize increased from 683 000 tons in 1911/1912
to 1 430 000 tons in 1939/1940. The ongoing drought in the early 1940s, together
with the growing demand for maize because of the outbreak of the Second World
War, ultimately led to major maize shortages in South Africa that could not be re-
solved only by control measures in terms of the Marketing Act. Consequently the
government appealed to the London Food Council and the Combined Food Board
for larger grain allocations to South Africa. This was not very successful, as all the
producing countries first wanted to meet their own needs. The government was
therefore forced to investigate other sources and succeeded in 1945 in entering
into an exchange arrangement with Argentina in terms of which South Africa de-
livered coal to Argentina in exchange for maize. The agreement was later renewed
for 1946 and 1947.
The Maize Board’s first official maize export contract was concluded in 1973 with
Taiwan for exporting 1,2 million tons of maize over a period of three years. This not
only paved the way for other trade between South Africa and Taiwan, but was fol-
lowed by export contracts in 1975 (for 1,35 million tons), 1979 (for 1,8 million tons)
and 1982 (for 1,8 million tons).
1981 record crop
The maize crop of 1981 was the biggest produced in South Africa until 2015. In that
year, almost 14,87 million tons of maize were produced, of which 13,6 million tons
were delivered to the market by producers – approximately seven million tons more
than the domestic demand at that stage. Consequently the industry was confronted
BETWEEN 1924 AND 1940 AN
AVERAGE OF 312 094 TONS
OF GRAIN PER YEAR WERE
EXPORTED THROUGH
THE SOUTH AFRICAN
HARBOURS AND AN
AVERAGE OF 900 000 TONS
PER YEAR OVERLAND
TO NEIGHBOURING
COUNTRIES.
The signing of the first long-term maize export contract between the Maize Board and the
Republic of China in Pretoria on 24 January 1973.