Agriculture’s income-generating capacity may depend on irrigation

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Imre Hubai explained that warming in the Carpathian Basin is faster than in other parts of the continent, there is not enough precipitation even in winter, which is why the soil cannot be recharged, and the water yield of rivers is falling a month earlier than before. Looking back on the past five years, this is the fourth drought year in Hungary, and if the drought does not end with the summer, there will be little moisture stored in the atmosphere and soil, and autumn sowing may be at risk. Unfortunately, it is also evident from this year’s harvest that a significant part of the wheat does not yield the average yield and quality corresponding to its genetic endowment due to unfavorable weather. The water shortage was already felt at the end of winter, the most endangered region is the Tiszántúl and the Danube-Tisza region, Baranya and Fejér counties are also increasingly dry – he emphasized.

The state secretary justified the unfavorable changes by saying that the government has been working for affordable agricultural water use for more than 10 years

Brussels opposes this and wants to make farmers pay the water fee, although they cannot do anything about climate change. Under such circumstances, planning the crop structure and irrigation areas is an almost impossible task, which is why access to water resources became free of charge in Hungary from March, and the Drought Protection Operational Group was established in May. According to Imre Hubai, the amount needed for irrigation should be delivered from the Danube and Tisza to dried-up backwaters, beds and canals, and water that seeps into the soil can replace the missed precipitation. The government will also provide resources for flooding the layer and pastures – said the state secretary, who said that the amount of water reserves in Hungary could increase to one and a half billion cubic meters by spring and three billion cubic meters by the end of 2026.

Imre Hubai also spoke on Kossuth radio’s Good morning, Hungary! Thursday morning program that the government’s assumption of the water fee makes irrigation farming planable

The 10 billion forints provided for this will be enough to supply water to 80-90 thousand hectares of irrigable land. In the interests of climate protection, it is also necessary to satisfy the ecological water demand in all available areas, because improving microclimatic conditions can also help a lot. The cooperative water management system of the Tisza and Körös rivers could play a particularly important role, he added, as it could ensure the irrigation and ecological water supply of almost half a million hectares of land.

MTI