Conservation Agriculture in rainfed annual crop production in South Africa

Strauss, Johann; Swanepoel, Pieter A.; Laker, M. C.; Smith, H. J.

doi:10.1080/02571862.2021.1891472

Cited by 22 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…Other soil types include black and red clays and well-drained sandy soils. For a comprehensive description of the biophysical characteristics of the summer rainfall region, see (http://daffarcgis.nda.agric.za/comp_atlas_v2/; Strauss et al, 2021).…”

Section: An Overview Of the Summer Rainfall Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Productivity and constraints of small-scale crop farming in the summer rainfall region of South Africa

2022

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The South African policy sphere hails the commercialisation of small-scale farming as the answer to a myriad of socio-economic, ecological and political challenges of rural livelihoods. Yet the low agricultural productivity of this sector challenges the realisation of this pathway. Through comparison with large-scale farmers, this review sought to elicit the main reasons for differences in productivity and explore the prospects of small-scale farming. It highlights that low productivity of small-scale farming cannot be solely ascribed to biophysical constraints and that differences rather arise at farm and regional level. Therefore, intervention strategies should not be solely sought at field scale, which seems to be the norm. While the prospects of small-scale farming may seem gloomy at first glance, opportunities such as investing in horticulture exist. Prospects for small-scale farming are limited by the country's very competitive and thriving large-scale farming that saturate most agricultural markets. A key conclusion from this review is that we still do not know enough about small-scale farming systems in South Africa. For example, what is the contribution of small-scale farming to the living income of households? Are farming households food and nutrition secure? In particular, the role of agriculture in improving rural livelihoods is poorly understood. Farming is likely to remain an important supplementary livelihood opportunity for the majority of rural households. As such, small-scale farming needs to be rethought as part of a broader livelihood strategy by all stakeholders while continuously seeking alternative entry points towards thriving rural livelihoods. This means provision of support for transition to more commercial farming activities for those with interest and sufficient resources, while alternative employment or social protection is provided for others. A key question for research is what types of farming (crops and livestock) and what scale of operation is needed to achieve commercial success in different regions.

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Section: An Overview Of the Summer Rainfall Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Productivity and constraints of small-scale crop farming in the summer rainfall region of South Africa

2022

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“…However, since soil physical quality in South Africa is generally poor because of erosion, compaction, crusting and poor organic matter content, soil conservation should be a priority. Van Antwerpen et al (2021) and Strauss et al (2021b) stressed the importance of using CA to reduce the rate of soil loss and physical degradation in South Africa, and its role to ensure food security. There exist research opportunities to refine or develop technologies to prevent soil erosion (e.g.…”

Section: A Research Agenda For Ca In South Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although no-tillage is associated with many benefits to combat soil degradation, improve soil fertility and control weeds, a pragmatic approach to tillage can be considered to facilitate nutrient distribution across soil depths, particularly that of immobile nutrients like phosphorus (P) and lime, and to break up root growthrestricting layers in soil. The choice of crop (particularly legumes) and the design of crop sequences in rotation systems are important factors to consider for optimal soil nutrient management (Nortje and Laker 2021;Strauss et al 2021b). There are significant gaps in our understanding of management of the soil biological component to facilitate effective nutrient uptake by plants, and for promoting soil resilience.…”

Section: A Research Agenda For Ca In South Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Aligning Conservation Agriculture among various disciplines in South Africa

Swanepoel

2021

South African Journal of Plant and Soil

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Conservation agriculture (CA) is widely acknowledged as a set of management principles that support soil conservation (Govaerts et al. 2009;Smith et al. 2017;Kassam et al. 2019). The term CA is loosely used among South African farmers, industry experts and academia to refer to any action that has soil-conservation goals. However, this inaccurate reference causes confusion and may lead to misperceptions of CA as simply a sustainable crop-production system. The principles of CA include minimum soil disturbance, protecting the soil with an organic soil cover, and including a diversity of crops, either in crop rotation or association (Hobbs et al. 2008). Management principles can be broadly applicable to many farming systems and crops. In South Africa, CA is used successfully for field crops under rainfed conditions, particularly in smallholder systems but also in commercial and broadacre production systems. The term CA has been less frequently used in reference to systems involving crops grown under irrigation, permanent (i.e. orchards and vineyards) and semi-permanent crops (i.e. sugarcane) or to cultivated pastures. Yet, the management principles of CA are reported to be largely universal and could be applied in most production systems (Kassam et al. 2019).To share and exchange CA research experiences and lessons, and to identify research gaps in the field of CA in South Africa, a workshop was facilitated with a wide range of representatives from across the CA community. The broad objectives of the workshop were to: i) facilitate participants' sharing of information and experiences focusing on lessons learnt with regard to the contribution of CA to sustainable crop production and improved food security; ii) identify key issues in the development, promotion and adoption of CA in commercial and subsistence farming; iii) involve participants' in collective discussion of key challenges faced within CA practices; iv) link the challenges to underlying knowledge gaps and plan collaborative approaches to best address these gaps (in the form of concept notes that might be the basis of future research proposals); and v) promote networking to support the scaling-up of CA in South Africa. In accordance with information gathered from participants in the workshop, this article aims to align approaches to CA among various disciplines in South Africa and outlines a research agenda for CA in South Africa. MethodsA workshop was held in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on 23 January 2019, and attended by approximately 200 delegates from universities and other tertiary educational institutions, research institutions, government, and private companies involved in CA in South Africa. The workshop was structured to have an opening session where the aim and objectives of the workshop were shared. This was followed by eight

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“…Southern Africa is particularly shown to be susceptible to climate change because of its significant economic inequality and strong dependency on rain-fed agriculture [ 4 ]. In the face of global warming caused by emissions of greenhouse gases, it is widely anticipated that extreme weather events will become more frequent, intense and severe [ 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observed trends and projections of temperature and precipitation in the Olifants River Catchment in South Africa

et al. 2022

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Among the projected effects of climate change, water resources are at the center of the matrix. Certainly, the southern African climate is changing, consequently, localized studies are needed to determine the magnitude of anticipated changes for effective adaptation. Utilizing historical observation data over the Olifants River Catchment, we examined trends in temperature and rainfall for the period 1976–2019. In addition, future climate change projections under the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios for two time periods of 2036–2065 (near future) and 2066–2095 (far future) were analysed using an ensemble of eight regional climate model (RCA4) simulations of the CORDEX Africa initiative. A modified Mann-Kendall test was used to determine trends and the statistical significance of annual and seasonal rainfall and temperature. The characteristics of extreme dry conditions were assessed by computing the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The results suggest that the catchment has witnessed an increase in temperatures and an overall decline in rainfall, although no significant changes have been detected in the distribution of rainfall over time. Furthermore, the surface temperature is expected to rise significantly, continuing a trend already evident in historical developments. The results further indicate that the minimum temperatures over the Catchment are getting warmer than the maximum temperatures. Seasonally, the minimum temperature warms more frequently in the summer season from December to February (DJF) and the spring season from September to November (SON) than in the winter season from June to August (JJA) and in the autumn season from March to May (MAM). The results of the SPI affirm the persistent drought conditions over the Catchment. In the context of the current global warming, this study provides an insight into the changing characteristics of temperatures and rainfall in a local context. The information in this study can provide policymakers with useful information to help them make informed decisions regarding the Olifants River Catchment and its resources.

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Conservation Agriculture in rainfed annual crop production in South Africa

Cited by 22 publications

References 93 publications

Productivity and constraints of small-scale crop farming in the summer rainfall region of South Africa

Productivity and constraints of small-scale crop farming in the summer rainfall region of South Africa

Aligning Conservation Agriculture among various disciplines in South Africa

Observed trends and projections of temperature and precipitation in the Olifants River Catchment in South Africa

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