Only 14 percent of the total land area of South Africa receives sufficient rainfall for arable crop production and periodic droughts affect the rainfed areas. Less than ten percent of the arable area is irrigated but the irrigated area accounts for a substantial proportion of the value of the country’s total agricultural output, the horticultural, fruit and wine sectors being particularly concerned. The commercial farming sector produces more than 95 percent of the total marketed agricultural output, the smallholder sector five percent.
In view of climatic and certain physical constraints (soils), the average yields of rainfed cereals are low compared with those of the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. However, the implementation of best-known practices can result in high yields even under these conditions.
Maize accounts for 41 percent of total fertilizer application, the second largest fertilizer consumer being sugar cane at 18 percent. The horticultural and fruit crop sectors account for 20 percent of fertilizer consumption but their contribution to the total value of crop production is much greater.
Until the 1980s, the fertilizer and agricultural sectors received substantial governmental support. The removal of controls and subsidies accelerated a restructuring of the fertilizer industry. Some fertilizer plants have been closed, resulting in an increase in fertilizer imports. The reduction in agricultural support led to a substantial reduction in the area of cereals, marginal areas being taken out of cultivation and allowed to revert to natural grazing. Financial constraints and the reduced arable area resulted in a 37 percent fall in the use of phosphate fertilizers, compensated, but only in part, by a gradual but steady increase in nitrogen use.
A great deal of research has been carried out to determine fertilizer requirements for crops in South Africa. Fertilizer manufacturers and blenders provide a technical service to farmers through sales representatives and technical support staff.
Eighteen million people, or forty percent of the population, live in poverty, most of them in rural areas. An increase in the purchasing power of these people would stimulate the demand for food and indirectly the demand for fertilizers. A proper use of fertilizers and other recommended practices could have a significant impact on raising the agricultural productivity and incomes of smallholders.
For the time being current trends are expected to continue, with a further reduction in the cropped area, more intensive production in the remaining areas and a stable or slowly growing fertilizer demand.
