SA to allow GM maize from the US as drought hits crop
South Africa will issue permits for genetically engineered US maize imports due to a 22% production drop caused by drought. The country may import 800,000 tons in 2024-25 after its smallest maize crop in five years. Limited planting increases and potential La Niña rains could improve the 2025 harvest.
South Africa will issue import permits for genetically engineered white and yellow maize from the US after a mid-summer drought that caused 22% drop in local production.
South Africa’s Department of Agriculture informed stakeholders on November 19 that it had resolved “all GE maize events that caused asynchrony” with the US, allowing issuance of the permits, the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service said in a report.
South Africa could import about 800 000 tons of maize in the marketing year that runs from May 2024 to April 2025, the report said. This is after the country produced the smallest maize crop in five years in 2024.
A report from South Africa’s Crop Estimates Committee last month showed farmers will barely increase the land allocated to plant maize for next year’s crop. However, the expected La Nina weather phenomenon, which usually causes above-normal rainfall in the country and its neighbors, could make for a better harvest in 2025.
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Source Link : News 24
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