U.S. Department of agriculture expects Zimbabwe to reduce corn production in 2001 / 02

Introduction: Zimbabwe's corn output in 2001 / 02 is estimated to be 1.3 million tons, a decrease of 9 percentage points over the previous year, the lowest since 1994 / 95 In 1994 / 95, the El Doni phenomenon led to a significant decline in corn yield caused by drought In 2001 / 02, the sown area was about 1.2 million hectares, a decrease of 2 percentage points compared with the previous year, because the sown area of large-scale commercial areas was reduced Traditionally, the sown area of commercial corn accounted for 6 percentage points of the total sown area of Zimbabwe corn, accounting for 25-30 percentage points of the total output Political factors and land ownership have influenced the summer crops planted by Shang Nong in 2001 / 02 This year, the area of corn in commercial areas is expected to decrease by at least 30 percentage points (lower than 74000 hectares in 2000 / 01), and some well-informed people predict that the decrease of sown area will probably exceed 60 percentage points The soybean planting area in 2001 / 02, potato planting area in 2002 / 03 and wheat planting area in 2002 / 03 are all predicted to decrease These crops are mainly planted in large-scale commercial farms In communes and small-scale commercial agricultural areas, the corn planting area in 2001 / 02 is expected to maintain a considerable level of 1.15 million hectares compared with the previous year The sales of seeds are higher than that of last year, and the sowing weather is mostly ideal However, the price of fertilizer has increased about twice compared with the previous year, and this year's farmers may not be able to use the same amount of fertilizer as the previous year Since 1995, the yield of corn per hectare in commune and small-scale planting area is 0.9-2 tons, far lower than that of 5 tons per hectare in large-scale planting area The current weather - hot and humid 2001 / 02 corn planting is in progress, and the harvest season is in May / June 2002 Most of Zimbabwe's grain (corn, wheat, sorghum, millet) is planted in the south The weather in the south is good, and the soil is favorable for seed rooting The beginning of the rainy season in 2001 / 02 was delayed for 2-4 weeks, but the rainfall in November and early December was close to normal, which provided ideal moisture for seed germination The temperature is slightly higher than normal since September, which is conducive to seed germination and rapid growth In the middle and south, rainfall and temperature are higher than normal, which is beneficial to the improvement of pasture environment and provides irrigation water resources for cotton and sugarcane However, if heavy rains continue in December, flooding in low-lying areas could become a problem.