INCREASED MAIZE CROP

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23992, 16 June 1941, Page 6

INCREASED MAIZE CROP

A further indication of the alacrity with which farmers have responded to the appeal for increased production, even if it is only a minor instance, is provided in the official announcement that enough maize was grown in New Zealand last season to meet the full requirements of the country for the next 12 months. Maize-growing is virtually confined to the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and parts of the Ilawke's Bay districts, so that farmers in the Auckland Province have been largely responsible for this achievement in national self-sufficiency. The Dominion's maize crop has slumped fairly heavily in recent years, chiefly as a result of labour costs, the acreage having fallen from 17,12G in 19155 36 to 1-2,2-20 in 1938-39, with a total yield in the latter season of about 1300 tons. Since the outbreak of war the Government has appealed to the maize growers for a.greater effort, and the result in the first season after the appeal was made has been an increased acreage and the present prospect of a record crop. The ridiculous position of recent years, when importations of maize had to be made from Java and South Africa, should no longer arise, and the sliding scale of prices for the next 12 months, announced by the Marketing Department, promises a reasonable return to growers. Security in respect of local maize supplies should be of direct benefit to the poultry industry throughout the Dominion, although a comparable effort with regard to wheat has still to be made.