No weather respite for farmers

SA is seeing rising evidence that “extremely dry and hot conditions” are highly likely during its summer season.

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Pretoria - South Africa, the biggest corn producer on the continent, is seeing rising evidence that “extremely dry and hot conditions” are highly likely during its summer season, according to the weather service of the southern-hemisphere nation.

"The condition may promote a regional or localised drought," the South African Weather Service said in a report on its website.

Most of the forecast model’s predictions indicate stronger El Nino conditions through the the summer, continuing toward late summer and early autumn, the service said. There’s a high probability of below normal rainfall for the start of the summer season, it said.

The worst drought since 1992 this year hurt produce in the Free State and North West provinces, which accounted for almost two-thirds of corn output last year, and prompted the nation to start importing the grain.

The Crop Estimates Committee predicts this season’s harvest will be 9.84 million metric tons, the smallest since 2007.

BLOOMBERG