Water Management of Czech Crop Production in 1961–2019

Karel Malec, Zdeňka Gebeltová, Mansoor Maitah (), Seth Nana Kwame Appiah-Kubi, Jitka Sirohi, Kamil Maitah, Joseph Phiri, Dariusz Pańka, Piotr Prus, Lubos Smutka and Jaroslav Janků
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Karel Malec: Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic
Zdeňka Gebeltová: Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic
Jitka Sirohi: Department of Statistics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic
Kamil Maitah: Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic
Joseph Phiri: Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic
Dariusz Pańka: Department of Biology and Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology, 85-796 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Piotr Prus: Laboratory of Economics and Agribusiness Advisory, Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology, 430 Fordońska St., 85-790 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Jaroslav Janků: Department of Soil Science and Soil Protection, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: This study aims to evaluate the water balance of the crop mix of the Czech Republic and the tendencies of its development during the period 1961–2019. For calculating water deficits, methodology from ČSN 750434 (Czech technical standards) was used and on its basis, the deficits of the ten most frequently represented crops of the Czech Republic were calculated. These results were then put into the context of the development of precipitation totals and the development of average annual temperatures in the observed period. Furthermore, statistical tools were used for the identification of relationships between the observed variables and the tested hypotheses to verify the statistical significance of the observed changes. The results show that the overall irrigation deficit nearly doubled in Czech agriculture when comparing the averages for the periods 1961–1970 and 2010–2019. This change was evaluated as statistically significant. Furthermore, there were also statistically significant increases in water deficits in the cases of wheat, barley, rye, oats, legumes, and rapeseed. The sowing areas of the observed crops recorded statistically significant change in all cases. Only in the case of wheat, maize and rapeseed were there increases in sowing area, specifically 146%, 642.4%, and 1132.7%, respectively. For other crops, a decrease in sowing areas was observed. This finding points to decreasing commodity diversity in Czech agriculture, which, in combination with a high degree of intensification and selected agrotechnical practices, contributes to a lower retention capacity for the soil and landscape to retain water, which in turn influences the overall water balance of the Czech agrarian sector.

Keywords: water balance; Czech agriculture; crop mix; climate change; water deficit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:12:y:2021:i:1:p:22-:d:711519

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