Agriculture is a series of activities that are highly dependent on weather and climate conditions, as they take place mostly outdoors. Temperature and precipitation have the greatest impact on agriculture, as do extreme weather events, which include agricultural drought. It is described as a period when we have an insufficient amount of water in the soil that agricultural plants need for normal growth and development. Agricultural drought has become a global problem as it obstructs the food security of countries in its scale. It affects all the countries of the world, covering 30 % of the land area, while 3-5 % of it is affected by extreme drought. It is a large-scale phenomenon that threatens the countries of Northeast Africa and Southwest Asia including China. Despite the relatively high average annual rainfall, Slovenia also experiences periods of droughts, the frequency and intensity of which are increasing. The most drought-endangered areas are the eastern, southern and coastal parts of Slovenia. Drought is likely to occur on 25 % of all areas in our country. Scenarios of forecasted climate change indicate that drought problems will intensify in the future due to the predicted higher air temperatures (1 to 4 °C, depending on the scenario) and increased evaporation (up to 16 %). There will be less precipitation, especially in summer and during the vegetation period. Droughts will be more frequent and more intense and will occur in areas where they have not been recorded before. In view of the current situation and the predicted climate change, the adaptation of agriculture to drought is a necessary. It will be very important in the future to monitor and spread information on drought, plan more irrigation systems, include more various agro-technical measures, introduce new drought-resistant crops and change some agricultural legislation.
|