EMBRACING WATER-SMART AGRICULTURE FOR OPTIMAL AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN SELECTED AREAS OF BUSHBUCKRIDGE, SOUTH AFRICA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17501/26827018.2021.6102Keywords:
Adoption, Water Smart Agriculture, Farmers, Behaviour, Climate change, ProductivityAbstract
Agriculture plays an important role for income generation, economic growth, and employment for majority of people. Agricultural production has become the very means of alleviating poverty. In pursuit to meet the growing demand for food to sustain the ever-growing population, the need to salvage farming and farm productions from extreme climate events using water smart practices remains paramount. The conservation of water resources for a water-scare country, such as South Africa, is important for agricultural development. Water-smart agriculture aims at addressing issues associated with water availability, water use efficiencies as well as water conservation for optimal production. The study was conducted in Chochocho, Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, South Africa. The aim of the study was to examine the adoption of water smart agriculture, and to determine the water use efficient practices employed by farmers in the study area. Random sampling method was employed, and data was collected using structured and semi-structured questionnaires as well as focus group discussion. Furthermore, the descriptive and inferential statistics were used to explain responses from respondents and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 27) software was used for the analysis. The study found that farmers’ adoption of water smart agriculture practices was hinged on several heterogeneous variables. The study recommends amongst others, the need to conserve water for agricultural production, and water infrastructural development for local food security must be improved. Additionally, water demand and supply management issues must be addressed.
Downloads
References
Agholor, A. I., & Gama, B. (2020). Perception on land reform in Reef, Nkomazi District Mpumalanga, South Africa. Il Ponte, Vol. 76. 10.21506/j.ponte.2020.10.6. , 83-94.
Agholor, I., & Mzwakhe, N. (. (2020). Sustainable Water Conservation Practices and Challenges among Smallholder Farmers in Enyibe Ermelo Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. . Journal of Agricultural Extension, 24. 112-123. 10.4314/jae.v24i4.12.
Agricultural Statistics. (2008). Directorate: Agricultural Statistics of the National Department of Agriculture, Private Bag X144, Pretoria, 0001.
Ahmed Khan, Z., & Nawaz, A. (2020). Impact of Climate Change Awareness on Climate Change Adaptions and Climate Change Adaptation Issues. Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Research, 36. 10.17582/journal.pjar/2020/33.3.619.636.
Alexandratos, N., & Bruinsma, J. (2012). World agriculture towards 2030/2050. . Land Use Policy, 20(4):375.
Amundson, R., Berhe, A. A., Hopmans, J. W., Olson, C., Sztein, A. E., & Sparks, D. L. (2015). Soil and Human Security in the 21st Century. Science 348, 1261071.
Dey, A., & Mukherjee, S. (2019). Conservation Agriculture: Future of Agriculture. . Soil Science, 18. 30-31.
Doody, A. (2020). Pests and Disease and Climate Change. is there a connection? Retrieved February 27, 2020
FAO. (2013). FAO Climate-Smart Agriculture.Sourcebook (online). Rome, Italy. Retrieved May 21, 2018, from http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3325e/i3325e.pdf.
FAO. (2014). FAO success stories on climate-smart agriculture (online). Rome, Italy. Retrieved May 21, 2018, from http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3817e.pdf.
Ghosh, A., Reja, M., Kanthal, S., Nalia, A., & Nath, R. (2019). Climate-Smart Agriculture. Environment and Ecology, 37 (4): 1221—122. ISSN 0970-0420.
Greyling, J. (2015). A look at the contribution of the agricultural sector to the South African economy. Department of Agricultural Economics, Stellenbosch University.
IPCC. (2007). Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovergovernmental panel on Climate Change. In Summary for policymakers, in climate change (p. 17). Cambridge, Uk: Cambridge University Press.
Kelly, J. (2019). Sciencing: The top 10 causes of global warming. Retrieved from http://www.sciencing.com/top-10-causes-of-global-warming
Knowler, D., & Bradshaw, B. (2007). Farmers’ Adoption of Conservation Agriculture: Review and 32. Synthesis of Recent Research. . Food Policy, 32(1): 25-48.
Lacetera, N. (2018). Impact of climate change on animal health and welfare. Animal Frontiers, 9. 10.1093/af/vfy030.
Linden, P. v. (2015). Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. IPCC WGII Fourth Assessment Report.
Lubisi, P., Agholor, A., & Ogujiuba, K. (2021). Climate Threat and Alternatives for Farming in Driekoppies, Mpumalanga, South Africa. Annals of R.S.C.B., vol.25(6)10311 – 10321.
Luo, J., Wyatt, J., Weerden, T. J., Thomas, S. M., Klein, C. A., Li, J., . . . Rys, G. (2017). Potential Hotspot Areas of Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Grazed Poatoral Dairy Farm Systems. Advances in Agronomy, 145, 205-268.
Maphill, M. g. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.maphill.com.south-africa/northern-province/mapulaneng-o/chochocho/3D-maps/physical-map/free/
Masiyandima, M. (2017). Water-Smart Agrivulture (WaSA) learning brief. CARE.
Mekonnen, M., & Hoekstra, A. (2016). Four billion people facing severe water scarcity. Science Advances, 1-6. 2:e1500323(2016). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1500323.
Moswentsi, G., Fanadzo, M., & Ncube, B. (2017). Cropping Sytems and Agronomic Management Practices in Smallholder Farmers in South Africa: Constraints, Challenges, and Opportunities. Journal of Agronomy, 16(2), 51-64.
Niang, I. O., Ruppel, M., Abdrabo, A., Essel, C., Lennard, J., Padgham, & P. Urquhart, 2. (2014). Africa. In: Climate Change 2014. In V. Barros, C. Field, M. M. D.J. Dokken, & A. L. E.S. Kissel (Eds.), Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part B: Regional Aspects. Contribution of Working Group (pp. 1199-1265). Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Ntshangase, N., Muroyiwa, B., & Sibanda, M. (2018). Farmers' Perceptions and Factors Influencing the Adoption of No-Till Conservation Agriculture by Small-Scale Farmers in Zashuke, KwaZulu-Natali Province. Sustainability, 10, 555.
Nyangane, W., & Juma, O. (2014). Impact of improved farm technologies on yield: The case of improved maize variables and inorganic fertilizer in Kenya. Environmental development. Discussion paper series. Nairobi, Kenya.
Prakash, S., & Srivastava, S. (2019). Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity: An Overview. International Journal of Biological Innovations, 01. 60-65. 10.46505/IJBI.2019.1205.
Schneider, S. S., Semenov, A., Patwardhan, I., Burton, C., Magadza, M., Oppenheimer, A., . . . Smith, A. (2007). Assessing key vulnerabilities and the risk from climate change. Climate Change 2007. In O. C. M.L. Parry (Ed.), Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (pp. 779-810). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Sithole, M. Z., & Agholor, I. A. (2021). Delineation and Dimension of Deforestation.
Slegers, M. (2008). Exploring farmers' perceptions of drought in Tanzania and Ethiopia. Wageningen: Doctoral Thesis Wageningen University. ISBN: 978-908585-240-7.
Stillman, D. (2014). National Aeronautics and Space Administration( NASA): What is climate change. (S. May, Editor) Retrieved August 17, 2017, from www.nasa.gov>what is climate change
Uddin, M., Bokelmann, W., & Entsminger, J. (2014). Factors Affecting Farmers’ Adaptation Strategies to Environmental Degradation and Climate Change Effects: A Farm Level Study in Bangladesh. . Climate, 2, 223-241.10.3390/cli2040223.
WB (The World Bank, U. S. (2013). Annual Report 2013. Washington D.C., USA.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Proceedings of the International Conference on Agriculture
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
