Drought patterns: their spatiotemporal variability and impacts on maize production in Limpopo province, South Africa.

ABSTRACT: Due to global climate change, droughts are likely to become more frequent and more severe in many regions such as in South Africa. In Limpopo, observed high climate variability and projected future climate change will likely increase future maize production risks. This paper evaluates drought patterns in Limpopo at two representative sites. We studied how drought patterns are projected to change under future climatic conditions as an important step in identifying adaptation measures (e.g., breeding maize ideotypes resilient to future conditions). Thirty-year time horizons were analyzed, considering three emission scenarios and five global climate models. We applied the WOFOST crop model to simulate maize crop growth and yield formation over South Africa's summer season. We considered three

SUBMITTER: Ferreira NCR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9758106 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature