Lessons from the field: Crop challenges in the arid Northern Cape region

The Northern Cape is one of South Africa's driest provinces, with an average annual rainfall of less than 200mm in many areas.

- Johleen Malaka, Graig Sithole and Nadia Araya, ARC-Natural Resources and Engineering

Despite the harsh environment, vegetable production plays a critical role in ensuring regional food security and supporting smallholder livelihoods.

As climate change brings more unpredictable weather patterns such as intense heatwaves, erratic rainfall, and prolonged droughts, the ability to grow crops under such conditions is becoming more challenging. The Agricultural Research Council (ARC), with funding from the National Department of Agriculture, launched an important initiative in October last year to assess the impact of climate change on vegetable production. The aim is to develop practical recommendations for producers, especially under arid climate conditions, including suitable alternative production areas.

Our research and development efforts were implemented on a smallholder vegetable farm in the ZF Mgcawu District Municipality in the Northern Cape. The trial involved eight high-value vegetable crops (beetroot, carrot, lettuce, onion, spinach, cucumber, tomato, and pepper), which were chosen for their high nutritional content, market value and potential adaptability to warm, arid climate conditions. However, as with any fieldwork in challenging climates, we encountered several obstacles that brought valuable learning opportunities especially around pest management and plant spacing.

African bollworm infestation

A significant challenge during the trial was the unexpected outbreak of African bollworm (