As Zimbabwe's farmers head to the fields to plant, the country is facing yet another dry growing season, meteorologists predict. But that has not persuaded Sikhathele Sibanda to grow something besides thirsty maize, despite government urging.

Agriculture and climate change are deeply intertwined. The effects of global warming on food supply are dire, whilst world population is increasing. It's time to change the way agriculture affects the environment, and vice versa.

As the science weighs more heavily toward a consensus that a) climate change is a real phenomenon and b) human-generated carbon emissions are playing at least a part in causing more volatile weather patterns, it is critical that the global agricultural community combat this phenomenon, to the extent that it can.

A sharp improvement for rainfall conditions for most of the Summer Rainfall Areas for weeks to come. It also will lower the frost risk but increase the risk for insufficient growth related temperatures to complete development cycle of late planted summer crops.

South Africa is among a handful of countries that experience winter rainfall in some areas and summer rainfall in others. The southwestern tip of the country has a Mediterranean climate, with hot dry summers and cool wet winters. This is because mid-latitude cyclones migrate further north during winter, allowing the edge of the cold front arm to sweep across the southern most part of the country.

Flash floods may occur tomorrow over the Lowveld and escarpment of Mpumalanga and above-normal rainfall is expected in the maize-production areas for the remainder of the week.

Following the rain in the first part of February, are the prospects for drier conditions to follow for the last part of February and first week of March over the central to western and southern parts of the country and Namibia but possible high falls of rain possible over the north eastern parts with an intense tropical low that is likely to develop over Mozambique and adjacent areas.

Precipitation over the summer rainfall region was mostly limited to the northeastern, eastern and southeastern parts during the last few days.

The last week may certainly go through as one of the driest weeks during late summer/early autumn over the central parts of the country.

Drier conditions are likely to remain over the central to western Summer Rainfall Areas for the pre-winter period. Rainfall and production conditions are weaker than expected and it may be attributed to the redevelopment of El Nino that is currently taking place.

Tropical Cyclone Idai resulted in widespread heavy rain and flooding over Mozambique and Zimbabwe, reaching as far west as the central parts of Zimbabwe. The system moved out to the east again during the weekend. In South Africa, the system only caused light showers over the extreme northeastern parts.

Widespread rain expected over the summer rainfall region- Apart from isolated thundershowers over the summer rainfall region from time to time, the last few days were mostly dry – until Sunday (31st) when a cloud band developed over the central parts and isolated to scattered light thundershowers developed over the central parts. Thundershowers shifted somewhat further east on Monday (1st).

The rainy conditions will continue over the central to eastern parts until mid-week, contributing to record-breaking rainfall totals over large parts of the Free State and North West together with parts of the Eastern Cape and KZN.

s, it’s raining in the Midwest. But the real news is that it’s forcing some farmers into a terrible, painful choice: to plant or not to plant this season? America’s wettest year on record has culminated in months of heavy showers that are soaking the country’s most fertile, productive cropland.

In his 32 years of farming, Steve Fourez says he’s almost never been so late planting corn and soybean crops on the 500 acres he farms in east-central Illinois.

The first question at the end  “Responses to Our Changing Climate,” was one farmers have been asking for months: “What is causing all of this rain, and when will it end?”

After a multi-year period in which global grain and oilseed stocks ballooned to record highs due to little disruption in output, the market is suddenly facing some adversity on the production side as well as ongoing disputes that are disrupting traditional patterns of trade.

Groundwater reserves in Africa are estimated to be 20 times larger than the water stored in lakes and reservoirs above ground. These are the freshwater stores that flow in rocks and sediment beneath the Earth’s surface.

When Cyclone Idai barrelled over the Mozambican port of Beira on the east coast of Africa in March this year, mop-up crews estimated that the record-breaking storm had razed 90% of the city’s infrastructure.