{"id":3363,"date":"2022-04-15T04:01:15","date_gmt":"2022-04-15T02:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/?p=3363"},"modified":"2022-04-15T04:01:20","modified_gmt":"2022-04-15T02:01:20","slug":"the-elements-and-agriculture-part-1-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelife.digital\/tl\/articles\/the-elements-and-agriculture-part-1-drought\/","title":{"rendered":"The Elements and Agriculture Part 1 – Drought"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The climatological community has defined four types of droughts. Meteorological, Hydrological, Agricultural and Socio-economic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

D0<\/td>Abnormally Dry<\/strong><\/td>Going into or coming out of drought. Short term dryness slowing planting and growth of crops. Pastures and crops not fully recovered.  <\/td><\/tr>
D1<\/td>Moderate Drought<\/strong><\/td>Some damaged crops. Low water supply.  <\/td><\/tr>
D2<\/td>Severe drought<\/strong><\/td>Crops or pasture losses. Common water shortages developing. Water restrictions.  <\/td><\/tr>
D3<\/td>Extreme drought<\/strong>  <\/td>Major crop and pasture losses. Widespread water shortages and restrictions.  <\/td><\/tr>
D4<\/td>Exceptional drought<\/strong><\/td>Exceptional crop and pasture losses. Shortages of water creating water emergencies.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

South Africa\u2019s drought history<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 1982, the worst drought in South Africa started in 2015 and lead to KwaZulu Natal, Free State and the Eastern Cape region being declared as \u201cdisaster areas\u201d by the Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1991\/92, 1997\/98 and 2001\/02 also had below normal rainfall periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drought can be caused by El Nino, human action, poor rainfall, or climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drought in South Africa has far-reaching consequences<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Grain SA<\/em><\/strong> there are no coping strategies in place to minimise the effects of drought. The devastating implications for agriculture are well known to farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agricultural sector can still cope if it last for only one season – but if it occurs over consecutive seasons, irrigation would be almost impossible, as the sector uses 60% of the countries water resources. This then leads to a shortage of wheat and maize. Livestock farmers would lose animals. As a result of water shortages, the country would be forced to import more – which in return leads to job losses on farms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drought pushes up food prices and the poor often die from hunger. The ripple effect drought has on agriculture is devastating as the sector contributes less to the country\u2019s GDP.  Agro processors have limited supply of produce and supplier\u2019s sales drop. This influences the cost of food and puts the countries overall food security at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What can the government do for farmers in times of drought?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n