Irrigation water requirement of fruit trees in the Central, West and South Serbia on a district scale

A common problem of all fruit producers is establishing the optimal irrigation schedule (irrigation interval and amount of water) which would provide a highquality yield with efficient use of water, preservation of soils and the environment. In this study, Seasonal Irrigation Water Requirement (SIWR) was calculated from the difference between the crop evapotranspiration (ETc) and effective rainfall (Pe) for the fruit crops in the 13 districts of Central (CS), West (WS), and South Serbia (SS). Analysed fruit production averaging around 9.8% of total arable land area. Depending on the crop water requirements and grass cover (GC) fruits were separated into seven groups: apples, pears, plums, walnuts and hazels without GC (I) and with GC (II); apricots, peaches, nectarines without GC (III) and with GC (IV); sweet cherries, sour cherries without GC (V) and with GC (VI) and raspberries, blackberries, blueberries (VII). Reference evapotranspiration (ETo), Pe, ETc, and SIWR were calculated based on FAO-56 methodolgy using daily meteorological data (mean, maximum and minimum temperature ,extra-terrestrial radiation and rainfall) for the period 2000-2019 obtained from 13 meteorological stations. The average SIWR amounts to 349, 541, 153, 272, 123, 220, and 207 mm for all the seven groups; I, II, III, IV, V, VI, and VII, respectively. Spatially SIWR values ranged from 232.8, 366.5, 428.2 mm for WS, CS, and SS districts respectively. Depending on whether the orchard is grass-covered or not ETo changes significantly. Crop evapotranspiration is 26% higher in the GC orchards compared to the orchards without GC. Great differences in SIWR going from Western to Eastern parts of Serbia indicate that for good irrigation practices and efficient irrigation system design, it is necessary to adopt SIWR calculated on a district scale or even farm scale. Obtained results indicate that besides SIWR, selecting the proper agronomy practices and growing systems has a significant impact on obtaining high-quality yields while saving water and preserve soils

Assessment of AquaCrop model on potato water requirements in climate change conditions

Potato is the most important non-grain crop in the world. Produced in a traditional way (without irrigation) in Bosnia and Herzegovina averages about 370 000 tons per year. Climate change will probably affect potato crop production, especially due to shallow rooting system. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of climate change on the potato water requirements for the IPCC RCP 8.5 scenario. AquaCrop V6.0 model was used to estimate potato irrigation norms (In), drainage water and yield. Three distinct area were analyzed; Banja Luka, Bijeljina and Mostar. Climate data were obtained from a climate change simulation of a regional climate model NMMB. The simulation is done as a dynamical downscaling of the global model CMCC-CM over the Southeast Europe. Models are forced with IPCC RCP8.5 scenario. Four periods were analyzed; the reference period (1971-2000) and three time slices in the future: 2020s (2011-2040); 2050s (2041-2070; 2080s (2071-2100). Obtained results in three future periods were compared with referenced ones, and shown as a relative ratio. Sowing dates will be moved towards winter months in all areas. Such results will have an impact on yield increment in rainfed conditions up to 85%. Obtained data showed decrement of the In in Banja Luka and Mostar area up to 18% and 25% through the century, respectively. However, drier conditions in Bjeljina region will affect yield decline. In increment with magnitude of 70% to 34% will be expected in Bjeljina area due to lower precipitation. Thus makes irrigation very important in order to achieve genetic potential of potato. Drainage system should be implemented and/or well maintained in all areas

Seasonal water requirements of maize in the region of Vojvodina

Global climate changes, which are characterized by an increase in temperature, reduction of precipitation, especially during the summer months, significantly affect the overall production of spring sowing crops. Maize is the predominant crop in Serbia. It is grown in about 1 million hectares with average yield about 7,9 t/ha. Precisely for that reason, in this paper, the analysis of water deficit on the maize fields in the region of Vojvodina was performed. The total used agricultural land of the surveyed area is about 1,574,365.71 ha, while the maize grown area occupies about 551,028 ha (35%). A series of meteorological data from the previous 20 years (2000 - 2019) from 7 meteorological stations of the Administrative Districts from the regions covered by the survey were used for the analysis. Evapotranspiration, crop evapotranspiration (maize), effective rainfall and water deficit were calculated using FAO-56 methodology. The amount of water consumed during the evapotranspiration process in the vegetation period averaging about 625.07 mm (from 597.4 mm in the North Bačka District to 646.8 mm in the West Bačka District). Maize has the greatest water requirement during the tasseling and silking phases, in July, when the largest water deficit is observed, which averages 152.51 mm (from 143.6 mm in the South Banat District to 159.2 mm in the Srem District). The seasonal water deficit averages 347.24 mm (from 310.8 mm in the area of South Bačka District to 369 mm in the area of West Bačka District). As the availability of water is a key factor for high and stable maize yields, this research aimed to examine the water requirements in the area where the maize represents more than half of the total production

Effect of irrigation regime on water use efficiency and qualitative properties of panonia grapes

The cultivation of plant cultures, in this case vines, largely depends on the climate, which directly affects the growth and development of grapes. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of different irrigation regimes on yield, water use efficiency (WUE), and grape quality parameters. The experiment was conducted in a vineyard growing a white varietal (cv. Panonia) at Plavinci, Serbia. During the experimental year (2021), temperatures were significantly higher and precipitation significantly below average during the phenophase of maturation, so irrigation was applied in three regimes as a percentage of crop evapotranspiration (ETc) during the vegetation period: full irrigated, F (100% ETc); deficit, D (50% ETc); and rainfed, R (0% ETc). The watering turn was 7 days, and the watering norm, ie. the amount of water given in one watering was 15 mm for D and 30 mm for F treatment. The obtained results indicate that the yields are significantly higher in irrigation treatments, ie. they range from: 12.776,04 kg•ha-1, 13.763,56 kg•ha-1 and 10.122,08 kg•ha-1 for F, D, R, respectively. Irrigation water use efficiency is 14,74 kg•ha-1•mm-1 and 40,46 kg•ha-1•mm-1 for IWUEF and IWUED. In the non-irrigated treatment, WUER is 39,53 kg•ha-1•mm-1. The sugar content in the wider by treatments is 22,4%, 22,8% and 21,1% for F, D, R, respectively. The content of total acids is 5,25 g/l, 6,15 g/l and 5,33 g/l, for F, D, R, respectively. The treatment of deficit irrigation shows the best results because it consumes water efficiently and has excellent grape quality

Uticaj režima navodnjavanja na temperaturu, vlažnost zemljišta i temperaturu biljnog pokrivača vinove loze i trave

INTRODUCTION and AIMS: Climate changes, with their consequent increase in temperature and precipitation, have a significant impact on the soil surface. Soil temperature is very important for plant development and it depends on humidity (soil water content), air temperature and canopy cover (Fischer et al., 2021). Canopy temperature is one of the most important physiological parameters related to transpiration, leaf water potential and stomatal conductance. Plant water status is frequently monitored using thermal remote sensing devices (Martínez et al., 2016; Santesteban et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2018b; Zhang et al., 2018c). Bearing in mind the mentioned significance, the aim of this research is to analyse the effect of irrigation regime on soil temperature, soil moisture and temperature of grapevine and grass cover. MATERIALS and METHODS: The research was conducted in the vineyard of the white wine grape variety (cv. Panonia) in Plavinci near Belgrade (44° 41’ N; 20° 41’ E; 176 m.a.s.l.) from April to September 2021. The experiment was arranged using a block design with three replications. The intra-row spacing of plants (vines) amounted to 0.9 m, while the inter-row spacing was 1.8 m (1.62 vines m-2). The vineyard was minimally tilled. The space between rows was covered by a grass-legume mixture which is the subject of this study, as well. Climate data were obtained from the meteorological station located in the vineyard. Water, physical and chemical properties of soil were determined by the standard field and laboratory analyses. Irrigation was performed using the drip irrigation method. Three irrigation regimes were established: 1) full irrigation (F), when 100% of crop evapotranspiration (ЕТс) was ensured; 2) deficit irrigation (D), 50% of ЕТс ensured and 3) drought (S), the rainfed treatment. In all treatments soil moisture (by the vines and on the grass cover) was monitored using a gravimetric method each 7 to 10 days and continuously using TDR probes. Soil temperature probes were also used for measuring the soil temperature (soil by the vines). Temperature of the canopy cover (grapevine and grass) was measured 10 times during the vegetation (from mid-Jun to mid-September) using FLIR T335 thermal imaging camera. Three photographs were taken during each temperature measurement in all applied treatments. The photographs were later analysed using the sample of 10 temperatures per photo (30 samples per treatment) with FLIR Tools software. RESULTS and CONCLUSIONS: Soil moisture measured by means of gravimetric and TDR method was the highest in the F treatment and the lowest in the S treatment. Soil moisture content mostly remained within the soil water depletion limits during the research period. Soil temperature was the highest in the deficit irrigation treatment (it was not monitored in the control treatment). It varied from 5°С to 32.5°С and amounted to the average of 20°С from March to September. The average temperature of the grapevine canopy varied from 24.1°С in the F treatment, 25.2°С in the D treatment and 26.0°С in the S treatment. Temperature of the grapevine canopy was lower than the air temperature in all treatments, which indicates that plants were not exposed to water stress. The average temperature of grass cover in the inter-row space which was not directly irrigated varied from 38.3°С in the D treatment to 40.6 °С in the S treatment. It was mainly higher than the air temperature, which indicates that the grassland was exposed to water stress. The obtained results clearly highlight the significant impact of irrigation regime on both soil moisture and temperature and canopy cover temperature of grapevine and grass cover. In addition, grapevine tolerance to water deficit can concluded

The prediction of grapevine phenophases in climate change conditions

Prediction of phenophases under future climate change scenarios is becoming a strategic tool for the adaptation to climate change. The aim of this research was to predict changes in the phenology of the grapevine variety (cv. Panonia) in the vineyard Plavinci (Serbia). Two future periods were analyzed: I (2021-2040); II (2041-2060) and compared with observed (2015-2021) and reference data (1986-2005). The scenario RCP 8.5 was selected to predict the future accompanied by a set of 8 regional climate models (RCMs) from the EUROCORDEX project database. The results indicated that for the period I the budburst could be expected on April 14th (3 days later), fl owering on May 29th (6 days later), veraison on July 25th (11 days later), harvest around September 8th (17 days later), and the end of vegetation around November 1st (1 week earlier) compared to the observed period. For the period II the date for the budburst, fl owering, veraison, ripe for harvest, and end of vegetation are predicted for April 8th (3 days earlier), May 24th (1 day later), July 18th (4 days later), August 28th (6 days later), and November 11th (4 days later), respectively. Signifi cant coincidences of the date of the beginning of phenophases for the observed period and the II period, while the period I indicates the later appearance of veraison (approximately 7 days). The harvest is expected about 10 days later in relation to these two periods. Comparing these three periods with the reference one, it can be concluded that in the past the vegetative period of the vine lasted shorter, the growing season began much later (April 18th) and ended earlier (October 28th), while the beginnings of other phenophases occurred later

Grapevine water requirements in different regions of Serbia

Grapevine seasonal water requirements and hydromodule of a drip irrigation system were evaluated for different regions of Serbia. Meteorological observations were analyzed at fourteen meteorological stations of the Republic Hydrometeorological Service of Serbia for the last 20 years (2000-2019). The observations were used to calculate referent evapotranspiration, effective precipitation and grapevine evapotranspiration. Water deficit during the vegetation (March-September) were estimated as a difference between the sum of the grapevine evapotranspiration and effective precipitation. The largest water deficit occurs in July, which is the month of peak water consumption. The average seasonal water deficit for the grapevine is about 138 mm. Hydromodule of a drip irrigation system in the month of the greatest water needs (July) is in average 0.45 l∙s-1 ∙ha-1 . Aim of this research is to support producers, based on the grapevine water requirements and available soil and water resources, to select appropriate cultivation system, agro- and ampelo-technical measures that will provide high level yield and grape quality

Climate change risks in agricultural plant production of Serbia

Over the last two decades, Serbian agriculture has suffered increased losses and damages due to the more frequent occurrence of the extreme weather events caused by the climate change. The most significant losses are recorded in years with droughts and high summer temperature (such as 2012 and 2017). Significant losses in orchards are caused by the frost in late winter or early spring, when the flowering occurs early, due to a prolonged period of unusually high temperatures. On the other hand, damages caused by low winter temperatures are decreasing. In order to assess the risk levels brought by the climate change and extreme weather events to the agricultural plant production in different regions of the country, analyzed are frequency of the occurrence of the weather events that may have significant negative effect to the yields of the most important crops (corn, maize, sunflower, soybeans) and fruits (plum, peach, raspberry, apple, wine grape), as well as pastures and meadows. Vulnerability is assessed through the analysis of agricultural production structure in the administrative districts of Serbia. Weather events with potentially negative effect to yields and most vulnerable phenophases are defined for each crop or fruit considered in the analysis. For each plant and each potentially dangerous weather event one or more bioclimatic indices were adopted and calculated for the past, present and future. For the present (2000-2019), daily data on temperature and precipitation were used from the eOBS gridded observations dataset. Results of 8 regional climate models from the EURO-CORDEX initiative were combined into an ensemble. The ensemble was constructed upon the evaluation of their ability to simulate past climate characteristics over the country. The chosen simulations are done under the RCP8.5 IPCC greenhouse gasses emission scenario, for the periods 1986-2005, 2021-2040, 2041-2060 and 2081-2100. Results showed that projected frequencies of the events such are water deficit and/or droughts and high temperatures in the critical phenophases of the considered plants, and late spring frost, are increasing in the future. The median value of the frequency of those weather events projected for the next 20 years is mostly already reached. Therefore, more weight is given to the 75th percentile of the ensemble projections for the increasing risks and the 25th percentile for the decreasing risks, as upper and lower limits of the most probable range of the future climate changes. This assessment is used for drafting the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan in order to propose and prioritize adaptation measures for the agricultural sector in the Republic of Serbia, on the national and administrative districts level