scholarly journals Drought Characterization and Trend Detection Using the Reconnaissance Drought Index for Setsoto Municipality of the Free State Province of South Africa and the Impact on Maize Yield

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 2993 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hadisu B. Abubakar ◽  
Solomon W. Newete ◽  
Mary C. Scholes
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Drought Index ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Free State ◽  
Trend Detection ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Large Variability ◽  
Reconnaissance Drought Index ◽  
Free State Province ◽  
The Impact

The reconnaissance drought index (RDI) for the Setsoto municipality of the Free State province in South Africa was calculated for the period between 1985 and 2019 at 3 month (October–December), 6 month (October–March), and 12 month (October–September) intervals. Rainfall and minimum and maximum temperature data from four weather stations (Clocolan, Ficksburg, Marquard, and Senekal) were used for this study to characterize drought using “DrinC” software together with the Mann Kendall test with Sen’s slope to detect drought trends and the rate of change. Extreme, severe, and moderate droughts were recorded for all the stations, with RDIs ranging from −3.6 to −1.0 at different temporal scales. The years 1991, 1994, 2006, 2011, and 2015 were highlighted using the RDI 3, 6, and 12 month calculations. Results showed that the yield decreased either in the year of the drought or in the subsequent year, due to the exact timing of the low-rainfall events in the season and soil moisture storage. Yields were low, on average 2.5 tons ha−1 year−1, with high variability. Optimal growing conditions are essential in the early part of the season, October–December, for maximizing yield; if droughts are experienced at this time then the yield is more greatly impacted than if the droughts occur later in the season. Spatial analysis shows a large variability of drought patterns across the Municipality, over the years, with the 3 month RDI values giving a more detailed picture of this variability than the 6 and 12 month RDI values.

scholarly journals Influence of Altitude on the Spatiotemporal Variations of Meteorological Droughts in Mountain Regions of the Free State Province, South Africa (1960–2013)

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Mbiriri ◽  
G. Mukwada ◽  
D. Manatsa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Free State ◽  
Windward Side ◽  
Drought Severity ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Free State Province ◽  
The Impact

The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) was computed for October to December (OND) and January to March (JFM) summer subseasons for Free State Province, South Africa, to assess the influence of altitude on drought severity and frequency. The observed spatiotemporal heterogeneity in the SPI variability revealed that factors governing drought interannual variability varied markedly within the region for the two subseasons. Strong correlations between r=0.76 and 0.93 across the clusters in both subseasons were observed. Significant shift in average SPI, towards the high during the OND subseason, was detected for the far western low-lying and central regions of the province around the 1990s. An ANOVA test revealed a significant relationship between drought severity and altitude during the OND subseason only. The impact of altitude is partly manifested in the strong relationship between meridional winds and SPI extremes. When the winds are largely northerly, Free State lies predominantly in the windward side of the Drakensberg Mountains but lies in the rain shadow when the winds are mostly southerly. The relationship between ENSO and SPI indicates stronger correlations for the early summer subseason than for the late summer subseason while overall presenting a diminishing intensity with height over the province.

scholarly journals Impacts of Agroclimatic Variability on Maize Production in the Setsoto Municipality in the Free State Province, South Africa

Climate ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 147
Author(s):  
Abubakar Hadisu Bello ◽  
Mary Scholes ◽  
Solomon W. Newete
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Minimum Temperature ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Free State ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Strong Positive Correlation ◽  
Maize Production ◽  
Free State Province ◽  
Growing Period ◽  
Maximum Temperatures

The majority of people in South Africa eat maize, which is grown as a rain-fed crop in the summer rainfall areas of the country, as their staple food. The country is usually food secure except in drought years, which are expected to increase in severity and frequency. This study investigated the impacts of rainfall and minimum and maximum temperatures on maize yield in the Setsoto municipality of the Free State province of South Africa from 1985 to 2016. The variation of the agroclimatic variables, including the Palmer stress diversity index (PSDI), was investigated over the growing period (Oct–Apr) which varied across the four target stations (Clocolan, Senekal, Marquard and Ficksburg). The highest coefficients of variance (CV) recorded for the minimum and maximum temperatures and rainfall were 16.2%, 6.2% and 29% during the growing period. Non-parametric Mann Kendal and Sen’s slope estimator were used for the trend analysis. The result showed significant positive trends in minimum temperature across the stations except for Clocolan where a negative trend of 0.2 to 0.12 °C year−1 was observed. The maximum temperature increased significantly across all the stations by 0.04–0.05 °C year−1 during the growing period. The temperature effects were most noticeable in the months of November and February when leaf initiation and kernel filling occur, respectively. The changes in rainfall were significant only in Ficksburg in the month of January with a value of 2.34 mm year−1. Nevertheless, the rainfall showed a strong positive correlation with yield (r 0.46, p = < 0.05). The overall variation in maize production is explained by the contribution of the agroclimatic parameters; the minimum temperature (R2 0.13–0.152), maximum temperature (R2 0.214–0.432) and rainfall (R2 0.17–0.473) for the growing period across the stations during the study period. The PSDI showed dry years and wet years but with most of the years recording close to normal rainfall. An increase in both the minimum and maximum temperatures over time will have a negative impact on crop yield.

scholarly journals Application of Artificial Neural Network for Predicting Maize Production in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omolola Adisa ◽  
Joel Botai ◽  
Abiodun Adeola ◽  
Abubeker Hassen ◽  
Christina Botai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Artificial Neural Network ◽  
Free State ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Maize Production ◽  
Free State Province ◽  
North West ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Artificial Neural

The use of crop modeling as a decision tool by farmers and other decision-makers in the agricultural sector to improve production efficiency has been on the increase. In this study, artificial neural network (ANN) models were used for predicting maize in the major maize producing provinces of South Africa. The maize production prediction and projection analysis were carried out using the following climate variables: precipitation (PRE), maximum temperature (TMX), minimum temperature (TMN), potential evapotranspiration (PET), soil moisture (SM) and land cultivated (Land) for maize. The analyzed datasets spanned from 1990 to 2017 and were divided into two segments with 80% used for model training and the remaining 20% for testing. The results indicated that PET, PRE, TMN, TMX, Land, and SM with two hidden neurons of vector (5,8) were the best combination to predict maize production in the Free State province, whereas the TMN, TMX, PET, PRE, SM and Land with vector (7,8) were the best combination for predicting maize in KwaZulu-Natal province. In addition, the TMN, SM and Land and TMN, TMX, SM and Land with vector (3,4) were the best combination for maize predicting in the North West and Mpumalanga provinces, respectively. The comparison between the actual and predicted maize production using the testing data indicated performance accuracy adjusted R2 of 0.75 for Free State, 0.67 for North West, 0.86 for Mpumalanga and 0.82 for KwaZulu-Natal. Furthermore, a decline in the projected maize production was observed across all the selected provinces (except the Free State province) from 2018 to 2019. Thus, the developed model can help to enhance the decision making process of the farmers and policymakers.

Impact of organisational culture on job stress and burnout in graded accommodation establishments in the Free State province, South Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 1198-1213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deseré Kokt ◽  
Relebohile Ramarumo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
Job Stress ◽  
Organisational Culture ◽  
Free State ◽  
Competing Values ◽  
Free State Province ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Subsequent Performance ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of organisational culture on job stress and burnout in graded accommodation establishments. The demanding nature of work in the hospitality industry (e.g. long hours and shift work) renders job stress and burnout, a persisting challenge for the industry. Employees that are constantly subjected to a challenging work environment may experience increased levels of job stress and burnout or even leave the industry entirely. The Free State province of South Africa has a well-established hospitality sector, and this investigation shows the extent to which job stress and burnout are mitigated by a favourable organisational culture. Design/methodology/approach – A structured questionnaire was administered to 46 graded accommodation establishments in the two main economic clusters (Bloemfontein and Clarens) of the Free State province of South Africa. The investigation was quantitative in nature and the robust competing values framework (CVF) was used as conceptual guide. Findings – The findings indicate that graded accommodation establishments had a predominantly Rational Culture, which points to strong external positioning and competitiveness. Correlation and regression analyses further confirmed that although the Rational Culture does have a mitigating effect on job stress and burnout, the values associated with the Group Culture and Developmental Culture exert an even stronger mitigating effect. Practical implications – Managers need to establish a flexible, employee-oriented work environment where employees are allowed to be innovative and entrepreneurial. Originality/value – The main causes of job stress and burnout in accommodation establishments revolve around the intense customer focus of the industry and the subsequent performance expected from employees.

scholarly journals Evaluation of an inverse distance weighting method for patching daily and dekadal rainfall over the Free State Province, South Africa

Water SA ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mokhele Edmond Moeletsi ◽  
Zakhele Phumlani Shabalala ◽  
Gert De Nysschen ◽  
Sue Walker
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Inverse Distance Weighting ◽  
Free State ◽  
Weighting Method ◽  
Free State Province ◽  
Distance Weighting ◽  
Inverse Distance

First hominine remains from a ∼1.0 million year old bone bed at Cornelia-Uitzoek, Free State Province, South Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 527-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Brink ◽  
Andy I.R. Herries ◽  
Jacopo Moggi-Cecchi ◽  
John A.J. Gowlett ◽  
C. Britt Bousman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Free State ◽  
Free State Province
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