Agricultural futures

SOUTH Africa’s wheat crop is set to climb 17 percent this year as rains eased drought conditions in the biggest growing province, prompting farmers to plant the cereal over a larger area, according to the Crop Estimates Committee.

Growers would probably reap 1.68 million tons in the 2016 season compared with 1.44 million tons last year, Marda Scheepers, a senior statistician for the committee, said yesterday. The forecast for a bigger crop “can be attributed to an increase in the area planted and improved conditions in the Western Cape”, Scheepers said. – Bloomberg