By J. L. DU TOIT During the 1951-52 season a total of 4,805,249
tons of sugar cane were crushed to make 532,505 tons of sugar. The "Special Census of Sugar Cane Plantations, 1951-52" of the Union Government Department of Census deals with European planters only and accounts for more than. 99 per cent, of the cane harvested by them and. 93.09 per cent, of the total crop harvested in the industry. Additional information used in this report consists very largely of data contained in a "Survey of Cane Production"
prepared by the Sugar Industry Central Board.
This year's census returns deal with a larger percentage of European growers than normal and returns from 831 individuals were received, an increase of 52 individual returns over the last year.
According to this special census 4,480,952 tons were harvested from 192,512 acres, giving an average yeild of 23.28 tons of cane per acre. Using this average yield and applying it to the total cane production given above, we arrive at a total area harvested of 206,411 acres or a decrease of some 10,000 acres over that of the previous year.
The area under cane on 30th April, 1952, is given in the census returns as 393,981 acres, which means that the probable area under cane in the industry at that date was 422,422 acres. This latter figure shows a reduction of more than 13,000 acres com- pared with the area under cane the previous year.
It is perhaps possible to explain the reduction in area cut by assuming that as a result of the drought and poor growth of cane, some fields were left over which might normally have been cut, but this will increase and not decrease the area under cane on 30th April. It is impossible to explain the latter figure and it can only be assumed that some error or errors were made in the returns. The writer knows of no reason nor has he any other evidence that the area under cane was reduced during 1952;
on the contrary it is known that the area under cane has been increasing steadily for some years, as is shown in the following table:
As stated, these total areas are obtained by assum- ing the same yield per acre for the total industry as that obtained by European growers who complete the census returns. This assumption is not correct, as the average yield obtained, by non-Europeans is lower as is shown in the following table derived from Central Board data, but the error, as a result of this assumption, is not of much consequence and the method is continued to ensure continuity of comparable figures.
The following yields were obtained during 1951/
52:
Tons Cane per Acre
European planters 22.94 European miller-cum-planter companies 23.66
Indian and others 15.33 Bantu planters 15.12
The following table gives the percentage of the total crop produced by these groups:
Per cent, of Crop
European planters 62.8 European miller-cum-planter companies 3 1 . 1
Indian and others 5.3 Bantu planters 0.8
The average yield for Europeans, including both planters and miller-cum-planters, according to the Central Board data is 23.18 tons per acre, which is fairly close to the census figure of 23.28. According to the Central Board the average yield for the whole industry was 22.47 tons cane per acre.
The yield obtained, in spite of a larger proportion of the more productive varieties, Co.331 and N:Co.310, is 3.13 tons per acre lower than, the year before. This is the result of adverse climatic condi- tions. The crop suffered, from a dry spring in 1950 and. a severe drought and frost during the winter of
1951. The annual crop is, of course, largely affected by the rainfall of the two years prior to harvesting and these figures will be available as from next year.
The following table shows the average yields as given by the Government Census and the rainfall averages from 44 centres in the cane-belt for the past ten years:
The yield from the South Coast for the year now under review was particularly poor and averaged no more than. 17.96 tons of cane per acre. At Port Shepstone, however, the average yield during 1951 was somewhat higher than that of the year before, and the total amount of cane produced in this district was appreciably higher than in the previous year. This undoubtedly the result of new plantations coining into production. In the case of Hlabisa the yield per acre increased from 31.51 in 1950 to 35.88 in 1951 and the total production of cane from 192,248 tons to 304,745 tons. This remarkable increase is due to the new farms on the north bank of the Umfolozi coming into production. Hlabisa now leads all districts in yield of cane per acre by a very wide margin. Lower Umfolozi, with a yield of 26.72 tons cane per acre, occupies the second position if we ignore 32.79 tons cane per acre from Piet Retief, where the total area under cane is still too small to be representative.
The relative yields from the four main varieties for the past four years are shown in the following table:
Yield in Tons Cane per Acre
1948 1949 1950 1951
Co.281 ... 25.29 21.94 21.78 18.41 Co.301 ... 28.90 27.17 26.80 22.96 Co.331 ... 34.07 29.07 32.25 24.93 N:Co.310 ... 33.07 33.55 39.36 32.59
The yields of Co.281 and Co.301 are, of course, depressed in comparison with the newer varieties, because the bulk of them are now cut as older ratoons, but the same tendency, if to a lesser extent, is shown in a comparison of plant cane. Thus for
1951-52 the following yields of plant cane was obtained:
Yield per Acre Plant Cane only
Co.281 21.75 Co.301 24.59 Co.331 26.41 N:Co.310 32.25
N:Co.310 has certainly shown once again, that it is an excellent yieder and this variety, as well as Co.331, is still rapidly on the increase, as is shown by the following table, which gives the percentage
In plant cane the proportions of these newer varieties are even higher, as is shown below:
Among the "other varieties" one that gave a.
remarkably good yield during the year now under review is Co.290, although, admittedly, the total area now under this cane is so small that too much importance should not be attached to this yield figure. Nevertheless the yields were fairly con- sistently good for this variety and averaged 32.50 tons cane per acre for 736 acres spread over the industry.
The "Special Census" further gives the following useful data for areas under cane, areas of farms, etc.
of European growers:
Yield in Tons Rainfall Year per Acre In Inches
1943 30.87 53.31 1944 29.08 36.45 1945 25.70 31.99 1946 21.99 32.02 1947 24.47 44.83 1948 26.80 35.25 1949 24.70 13.35 1950 26.41 30.70 1951 23.28 35.10 1952 (estimate) 25.38 31.57
area under cane of the various varieties on 30th April each year:
1948 1949 1950 1951 1952
Co.281 ... 60.9 52.9 41.4 29.1 17.9 Co.301 ... 32.2 33.8 35.3 35.5 33.8 Co.331 ... 2.9 5.2 9.4 13.5 18.2 N:Co.310 ... 0 . 8 5.8 12.1 20.7 29.0 Other varie-
ties 3.2 2 . 3 1.8 1.2 1.1
Per cent, of Plant Cane 30th April,
1952
Co.281 3.9 Co.301 22.3 Co.331 27.1 N:Co.310 46.0 Other varieties 0.7
Total area of farms 838,887 acres Total area under cane 30th April,
1952 393,981 „ Area still suitable for cane 77,303 "
Area ploughed out and long fallow... 54,430 "
Area ploughed out and short fallow 31,526 "
Virgin land planted 10,584 "
Average age of cane ploughed out... 6.34 years Of the 393,981 acres now under cane, 144,644 acres are under plant cane. The following table shows the total areas under plant cane and ratoons, as well as the percentage of each to total area under cane on 30th April, 1952:
Per cent, of Area under Area in Acres Cane
Plant cane 144,644 36.7 First ratoon 123,227 31.3 Second ratoon 74,821 19.0 Third ratoon 31,686 8.0 Fourth ratoon 11,244 2.9 Other ratoons 8,359 2.1
Total under cane ... 393,981 100.0
( E U R O P E A N PLANTERS O N L Y ) 1951-1952 Compiled f r o m U n i o n Department of Census Returns
Compiled f r o m U n i o n D e p a r t m e n t of Census Returns
Compiled f r o m U n i o n Department of Census Returns
Compiled f r o m U n i o n D e p a r t m e n t of Census Returns
Compiled f r o m U n i o n D e p a r t m e n t of Census Returns