Die Bodenkultur - Journal for Land Management, Food and Environment

Vesna Zupanc, Marina Pintar, Lučka Kajfež-Bogataj, Klemen Bergant:

Impact estimation of climate change on the irrigation demand for fruit growing in Western Slowenia

Summary

In-depth study on the influence of global climate change on irrigation demand for peaches and nectarines was conducted for the Vipava Valley in Western Slovenia. Changes of temperature and precipitation, as forecasted with a global circulation model for whole Slovenia, were applied to existing data of the meteorological station Bilje in period 1961–1990. To account for uncertainties, prospective temperature and precipitation values were varied in step scenarios. Simulation was made for two soils with the SWAP computer model. The water shortage in Fluvisols was lower (118–240 mm/year) compared to that of Cambisols (162–276 mm/year). Relative difference between calculated average water shortage for the period 1961–1990 and water shortage determined by the step scenarios is higher on Fluvisols (15–55 %) compared to the Cambisols (15–45 %). Key words: Climate change, climatic water balance, irrigation demand, numerical simulation, SWAP.