Economic Opportunities:
With reference to a recent Absa Agricultural Outlook report, according to which weather forecasts indicate that there is a more than 50% chance of another El Niño occurring in the coming season, which could result in drought conditions, meaning that there is a likelihood of lower rainfall as well as higher-than-average temperatures during November 2018 and early 2019:
Whether his Department has pre-empted such a scenario; if so, what measures are in place to deal with another agricultural drought in the Western?
The Department of Agriculture, together with the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, have partnered with the University of Cape Town’s African Climate and Development Initiative to develop the Western Cape Climate Change Response Framework and Implementation Plan for the Agricultural Sector, widely known as the SmartAgri Plan. The SmartAgri Plan builds on the Western Cape Climate Change Response Strategy (WCCCRS 2014) and its Implementation Framework and responds to the need for a practical and relevant climate change response plan specifically for the agricultural sector of the Western Cape Province. This plan underpins a number of interventions and strategies as outlined below, and which are already being rolled out in partnership with industry on the understanding that lower rainfall is deemed to be the new normal.
As a further response to the new normal, the Department has resolved to repackage its extension and advisory services messaging to include environmental challenges, while also partnering with Green Cape to assist with climate proofing for smallholder farmers across the value chains.
The Department is also busy with a stock intensive reduction scheme in partnership with the national Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as part of Operation Phakisa.
Water security underpins the new normal for agriculture. Accordingly, the Department is actively supporting water augmentation in the Province to build resilience in the agriculture sector. The extent of such resilience has been confirmed by the fly-over project, which has just been completed, and which has confirmed the extent that farmers, with the support of the Department, have applied new farming methodologies and practices such as tunnel farming, use of shade nets and conservation agriculture.
In this regard the use of shade netting and tunnelling has significantly increased across the Province, resulting in more efficient water use. As an example, with fruit orchards, there has been a 291% increase in the use of shade nets between 2013 and 2017, while with vegetable production there has been a 43% increase in tunnels over the same period. It should be noted that shade nets result in a net saving of up to 30% of water requirements. This saving especially during periods of low rainfall and high temperatures will ensure that we sustain production levels. Other projects that are being implemented currently and which are in support of a scenario of consistent low rainfall, include the regular testing and monitoring of all registered boreholes to ensure the sustainability of the groundwater system; the maintenance of Lorwua Canal system which will ensure that more water is available for distribution to water users; removal of invasive alien plants to increase water security; removal of the dead biomass to prevent further erosion of the water course; and the erecting of fences to ensure that there is adequate rotation of livestock. The rotation of livestock ensures that the ecosystem functioning of the natural veld is maintained, ensuring that the veld is more resilient during drought episodes.
At the same time the Department funds the provision of the satellite technology service to irrigators, namely FruitLook, to assist them in managing their water resources while obtaining reasonable yields on their permanent crops. FruitLook also provides valuable information on areas of water stress on crops. FruitLook uses the latest satellite technology to assist producers to precisely manage water use, production and crop growth. This technology provides irrigators with unique data products through obtaining information from satellite images (remote sensing) and weather stations and then calculates growth parameters by making use of complex algorithms. These parameters indicate the growth of the crop, the actual water use, how efficient the water use is and whether any water shortages (ET deficit) occurred.
In partnership with Hortgro, an “Orchard of the future” project is also in the planning phase focusing on water saving technologies which include nets and the use of drippers. The main focus of this project is on how to improve the quality of production and the need to produce more export cartons per hectare especially during periods of low rainfall and high temperatures.
Furthermore, and in relation to our partners at Vinpro, the following tools are being developed, namely:
- a database for integrated climate, remote sensing and weather monitoring; this database poses solutions based on past studies regarding climate change, water availability, soil and topographic data;
- a water footprint assessment tool, which enables the benchmarking and identification of areas for improvement in the production chain where it will have the biggest impact on reducing water use;
- irrigation in high potential trellis systems in the Coastal region, a field experiment that will specifically measure the water use, yield and quality from bush vines and vines that are drip-irrigated, on vertical shoot positions (VSP) trellis systems compared to that of grapevines trained onto high potential yield trellis systems in the Coastal region, and
- Assessing the drought tolerance of selected grapevine scion cultivars as drier conditions are likely to go hand in hand with increased air temperatures.
It is evident that the worst drought in more than a century has hardened the Department’s and industry response in the event of another El Nino scenario in order to ensure that we sustain agricultural production, secure jobs and enable food security.
