Agriculture

Agriculture is the largest consumer of freshwater in South Africa, accounting for the majority of the country's water use through irrigation. Managing this demand sustainably while maintaining food security in the face of growing population pressure, climate variability, and increasing water scarcity is one of the central challenges of South African water resource management. Understanding the relationship between water availability, soil conditions, crop requirements, and climate is therefore essential for both agricultural planning and national water governance.

The resources below cover a wide range of tools and data relevant to agricultural water use, including crop water requirement models, soil parameter databases, remote sensing products, climate data for crop modelling, crop climate suitability mapping, food security indicators, and soil laboratory services in South Africa.