South Africa Final 2003-04 Corn Estimate 8.71 Million MT Vs 9.40 Million MT 2002-03

South Africa produced a commercial corn crop of 8.71 million metric tons in the 2003-04 season, the National Crop Estimates Committee said Monday.
 
This compared with output of 9.40 million tons in 2002-03.
 
Meanwhile, the committee said it expects farmers to plant around 2.85 million hectares of corn in the 2004-05 season compared to 2.65 million hectares in 2003-04, the lowest area total for decades.
 
The estimate was based on a survey of farmers' planting intentions. The first official area estimate will only be released early next year.
 
In other summer crops, the committee raised all its final output estimates for 2003-04 compared to 2002-03.
 
It said farmers produced 663,400 tons of sunflowers compared to 642,610 tons in 2002-03; 336,370 tons of sorghum compared to 219,514 tons; 98,265 tons of ground nuts compared to 60,005 tons; 217,885 tons of soybeans compared to 136,520 tons; and 78,570 tons of dry beans compared to 60,295 tons