La Patrie : journal quotidien, politique, commercial et littéraire

02 juin 18641864/06/02 (A24)

Zapažanja poljoprivrednika o utjecaju prekomjerne kiše praćene poplavama na poljoprivredna zemljišta u Hrvatskoj

Extreme events have produced more rain and became more frequent in many regions around the world, and these trends will rise with the warming of the planet. The vulnerable agricultural sectors, directly dependent on the climate, is predicted to be significantly affected by climate change, with an expected decline in future crop yields. We provide data on the effects of floods, because of excessive rain, on the agricultural sector in Croatia, with emphasis on its northern Pannonian region. Data collected for the period 2015-2020 are based on a 34-question survey, conducted among farmers previously reporting on climate-related damages to their crops. With almost 80% of farmers having experienced flooding on their field plots in the last 5 years (mostly short-term flooding, i.e. waterlogging of up to seven days), it is clear that this type of investigation needs further attention. Data suggested that floods most often occurred in the plant germination phase (before the 5th leaf) representing a risk for plant damage and consequent reduction in yields. A combination of mitigation and adaptation measures could minimize water retention in the fields and reduce damage, however, our survey implied that farmers scarcely use such measures. Knowledge gained in this study represents the first step toward understanding potential negative effects of the extreme events on the fragile agricultural sector in Croatia and could help authorities in decision making with the aim to reduce the degree of uncertainty associated with climate change effects.Ekstremni vremenski događaji, između kojih su i obilne kiše, postali su sve češća pojava u mnogim dijelovima svijeta. S obzirom na to da se planet nastavlja zagrijavati, očekuje se njihovo povećanje. Predviđa se da će poljoprivredni sektor, koji izravno ovisi o klimi, pretrpjeti velike štete s očekivanim padom prinosa usjeva. Istraživanje je usmjereno na poplave koje nastaju kao posljedice obilnih kiša te njihov utjecaj na poljoprivredni sektor u Hrvatskoj, s naglaskom na njegovu sjevernu Panonsku regiju. Podaci su prikupljeni za razdoblje 2015-2020, a temelje se na anketi od 34 anonimna pitanja provedenom među poljoprivrednicima koji su prethodno prijavljivali klimatske štete na svojim usjevima. Budući da je gotovo 80% sudionika istraživanja u posljednjih 5 godina na svojim proizvodnim površinama imalo poplavu (uglavnom kratkotrajnu tj. poplavljivanje do sedam dana), jasno je da ovoj vrsti problema treba dodatno posvetiti pažnju. Podaci sugeriraju da su se poplave najčešće dogodile u fazi klijanja biljaka (prije 5. lista) što predstavlja rizik za oštećenje biljaka i posljedično smanjenje prinosa. Kombinacija mjera ublažavanja i prilagodbe mogla bi umanjiti zadržavanje vode na poljima i smanjiti štetu, međutim, istraživanje je pokazalo da poljoprivrednici rijetko koriste takve mjere. Znanje stečen u ovoj studiji predstavlja prvi korak ka razumijevanju potencijalnih negativnih učinaka ekstremnih događaja na krhki poljoprivredni sektor u Hrvatskoj i moglo bi pomoći vlastima u donošenju odluka s ciljem smanjenja posljedica takvih događaja

Response of White Cabbage (<i>Brassica oleracea</i> var. <i>capitata</i>) to Single and Repeated Short-Term Waterlogging

Climate change has a significant impact on the agricultural sector, negatively affecting plants’ growth and development, with predicted strong consequences on food availability in the future. Although we are experiencing more frequent and intense heavy rainfall events, a major contributor to field flooding, there is still not much known about the impact of these events on different crops. In this study, we investigated the effects of waterlogging on a model plant white cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. alba), with the aim to follow its response to both single and recurrent short-term (72-h length) waterlogging, as well as to track difference in the sensitivity between plants in different growth stages (38- and 48-day-old plants). In our 22-day experiment, settled under fully controlled conditions (16 h day/8 h night, 25 °C day/20 °C night, 60–70% relative air humidity, 250 µmol m−2 s−1 photosynthetic active radiation), with the aim to more comprehensively recognize consequences of waterlogging on plants, we measured changes in plants on multiple levels: (i) within its morphological traits (number and length of leaves, leaf area, and blade width), (ii) within chlorophyll fluorescence and multispectral traits (20 parameters), (iii) following the levels of plant stress parameters (salicylic acid, abscisic acid, proline, and total polyphenols), and (iv) following changes in the plants’ elemental and mineral composition. According to our results, white cabbage was shown not to be very sensitive to waterlogging, with only plants exposed to repeated waterlogging showing signs of the congestion stress. These signs, observed in the changes of molecular stress parameters salicylic and abscisic acids, were not so clearly evident at the aboveground level. We did not observe changes in the plants’ morphologies, nor their photosynthetic performance. In addition, removal of waterlogging stress resulted in complete recovery of our model plants, suggesting a prompt adaptation response of white cabbage. With the projected increased frequency of occurrence of flooding events, it will become increasingly more important to recognize crops being highly sensitive to flooding with the aim to try to adapt to the changing climate