Extension Agrometeorology a Pillar to Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture: A Case Study Mangaung Farming Communities

Herein faced a well-recognized scientific knowledge transfer challenge. Agricultural producers and practitioners require a widespread understanding of science, its interpretation, and its applications. Multidisciplinary agricultural scientific knowledge integration into operational and tactical decision-making serves a key function in improved agricultural productivity and food security. The agricultural sector is challenged by a plethora of societal challenges, such as climate variability and change, extreme weather events, disease and pest outbreaks, and many other disasters. Disaster occurrences in communities across South Africa have intensified rapidly, are increasingly complex, and require multidisciplinary approaches and collaboration to address these challenges. Thus, extension agrometeorology attends to the challenges brought about by weather and climate and persistent ways for adaptation and mitigation by understanding farm microclimate and localized agricultural practices. The establishment of agrometeorological services required engaging with the farmers at the farm level. This involves educational commitments such as farm community study groups, advisory forums, Climate Field Learning, Climate-Smart Agriculture, and Agrometeorological Extension Training. The institutionalization of platforms comprising scientists, intermediaries, and farmers forms part of the extension of agrometeorology to enhance agricultural sustainability and food security. Agrometeorological information and knowledge, advisories, and services remain one of the major hindrances toward productive agriculture. Well-researched and scientifically proven knowledge is inaccessible to most potential farmers whether commercial, resource-poor, or subsistence. A noticeable gap exists between knowledge developers or suppliers and end-users such as farmers. This paper is aimed at discussing the existing gaps and practical solutions for the enhancement of proper knowledge dissemination. This study discovered that most extension advisories and intermediaries indicated that 13% had a good background in the application of agrometeorological information and knowledge and 87% had no skill. About 80% followed the daily weather forecast. However, 86% of the participants could not differentiate between short-term forecasts, seasonal predictions, and long-term predictions. The need for intensive training of intermediaries on agrometeorological knowledge was emphasized since such knowledge is an integral part of agricultural decision-making toward sustainable agricultural productivity and food security.