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Maize and Grace: Africa's Encounter with a New World Crop, 1500-2000
Sometime around 1500 A.D., an African farmer planted a maize seed imported fr...
maize
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FIG. 1. Gross value of maize production
Source: Agricultural Statistics
1. DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRY
Maize is the most important grain crop in South Africa, being both the major feed grain andthe staple food for the majority of the South African population. About 60 % of maize pro-duced in South Africa is white and the other 40 % is yellow maize. Yellow maize is mostlyused for animal feed production while the white maize is primarily for human consumption.Maize is the second large crop produced in South Africa after sugar cane. The maizeindustry is important to the economy both as an employer and earner of foreign currencybecause of its multiplier effects. This is because maize serves as a raw material for manu-factured products such as paper, paint, textiles, medicines and food.The gross value of production is dependent on the quantity produced and prices receivedby producers. The trend of the gross value will follow the pattern of prices and produc-tion, because the industry is characterised by volatile prices. This is evident in thegross value of maize as shown in Fig. 1 below. The contribution of the maize industryto the gross value of agricultural production declined from the year 2002 mainly as aresult of low world commodity prices. The average gross value of maize producedamounted to R7 156 million for the past ten years. In the 2004/05 season, grossincome of maize has deceased by 6,8 %. The reason for the decrease is mainlythe result of the lower prices that farmers received during this period.
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