Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- South African farmers may plant 18 percent more cropland with corn in the 2011-12 production season as prices rise, according to a survey of traders.

The government’s Crop Estimates Committee may say on Oct. 25 that farmers aim to sow 2.8 million hectares (6.9 million acres), up from 2.37 million hectares last season, according to the median estimate of nine traders surveyed by Bloomberg News. Estimates ranged from 2.65 million to 2.9 million hectares.

White corn has increased 64 percent this year on the South African Futures Exchange in Johannesburg. The grain for December delivery closed at 2,364 rand ($292) a metric ton today. The country is Africa’s largest corn producer. The U.S. and Argentina are the world’s biggest exporters of the grain.

--Editors: Amanda Jordan, Randall Hackley

To contact the reporter on this story: Jana Marais in Johannesburg at jmarais@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Viljoen at jviljoen@bloomberg.net