A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

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CHAPTER 1
The area under wheat similarly shrank considerably over the same period – from
about two million hectares to even less than one million hectares. The enormous
decrease in the middle nineties can probably be regarded as a structural change
because it never rose to previous levels again after that.
In contrast, soybean plantings increased from 22 000 ha in 1975/1976 to more than
500 000 ha in 2013. However, this was still not enough to compensate for the de-
crease in the total area of maize and wheat plantings.
In 1970 a total of 181 000 ha of sunflower were planted. Although this varied from
one season to the next, sunflower plantings showed a rising trend over time, and
in 2013/2014 sunflower plantings covered 598 950 ha, with the biggest planting of
828 000 ha in 1998.
Groundnut plantings constantly increased after the Second World War, and peaked
at almost 400 000 ha around 1970, after which it started to decline gradually. How-
ever, from 1995 it started to decline markedly, and by 2013 the average annual
plantings was less than 50 000 ha.
The planting of sorghum peaked in the 1960s, with a record of 640 000 ha in 1966.
However, it decreased drastically over time and in the ten seasons preceding the
2014/2015 season the average was only 71 000 ha/year.
The grain industry is one of the biggest agricultural industries in South Africa and
by 2010 it contributed about 30% to the total gross agricultural production.
Production areas
Maize, which us the biggest locally produced grain crop and is planted on the
biggest area, is the main source of carbohydrates in the southern African region.
South Africa is also the biggest producer of maize in the Southern African Develop-
ment Community (SADC). Maize is produced mainly in North West, the Free State,
the Mpumalanga Highveld and the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.
Wheat is planted on the second biggest area, mainly in the winter rainfall areas of
the Western and Southern Cape and in the eastern areas of the Free State.
South Africa is not a significant role player in the international sunflower market,
as it contributes only a small percentage to the world’s production of and trade
in sunflower seed. Sunflower is cultivated mainly in the same areas as maize in
South Africa.
Soybeans are cultivated mainly in the Free State, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal,
with small plantings in Limpopo, Gauteng and North West.
Groundnuts were initially planted in the current Limpopo. Later it was expanded
to the western parts of the country, and by 2015 it was concentrated primarily
in the western and north-western parts of the Free State, North West and the
Northern Cape.
120 000
100 000
80 000
60 000
40 000
20 000
0
R million
1970/19711972/19731974/19751976/19771978/19791980/19811982/19831984/19851986/19871988/19891990/19911992/19931994/19951996/19971998/19992000/20012002/20032004/20052006/20072008/20092010/20112012/2013
Crops
Livestock
Orchards and gardening
Graph 5: Gross value of agricultural production since 1970