El Niño conditions in the previous season led to low soil moisture levels at the start of this season. Combined with drier than normal pre-season conditions, this delayed planting, resulted in a noticeable shift in crop emergence and green-up compared to previous seasons, as highlighted in the green-up graph below. The late plantings have shortened the potential length of the growing season, which could negatively affect crop development and overall production for the remainder of the season. The development of grain crops in the coming weeks will depend directly on timely and well-distributed rainfall to produce a good harvest to ensure normal crop production meets South Africa's demand.
Role players in the agricultural industry will closely monitor the climatic conditions in the coming month or two to track crop development and stay informed. The Crop Condition Dashboard, developed by GeoTerraImage provides the ideal platform to monitor rainfall and soil moisture as well as crop growth through the Green Leaf Indicator.
Grain SA, the growers' organisation that represents grain farmers in South Africa has selected the Crop Condition Dashboard to stay up to date on current climatic conditions and to regularly inform its members about rainfall, current soil moisture status, and crop development.
For further information on the GeoTerraImage Crop Condition Dashboard, please reach out to Fanie Ferreira | moc.egamiarretoeg@arierreF.einaF.
