AGRICULTURE NEWS - Hopes have been dashed that the recent widespread rain across South Africa’s summer rainfall region would put an end to widespread water-constrained and drought conditions.

This followed a preliminary weather forecast for the December 2019 to April 2020 summer season in a Seasonal Climate Watch issued recently by the South African Weather Service (SAWS), which indicated that there were “enhanced probabilities of below-normal rainfall over the north-eastern and southern parts of the country” for this period.

“With regard to temperatures, mostly higher than normal temperatures are expected this summer over most of South Africa, with the exception of the far south-western part,” the Seasonal Climate Watch added.

In recent weeks, many parts of the country’s summer rainfall region had been hit by a combination of both extreme heat and heavy and often destructive downpours.

In a statement, the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, said that despite the heavy rain, South Africans needed to continue saving water because the country was “not out of the woods yet” in terms of its water availability challenges.

Read the full article here on the Caxton publication, Farmer's Weekly.