KAZALCI OKOLJA

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Land areas, prepared for irrigation, have increased from 4,554 ha to 6,576 ha in the period 2000-2021, and their share in total utilized agricultural area from 0.9 % to 1,4 %. The water consumption per hectare of irrigated land, which strongly depends on weather conditions in each year, has decreased since 2000. Slovenia belongs to the group of EU countries with the smallest share of utilized agricultural area ready for irrigation.


This indicator shows the area of land prepared for irrigation, irrigated areas and water consumption for the purposes of irrigation in Slovenia in the period 2000–2021, as well as the share of irrigable area in the total utilized agricultural area in the European Union (EU) in 2000, 2010 and 2016. The indicator does not provide direct information on environmental acceptability of irrigation, but indicates the irrigation-related pressure on the environment.


Charts

Figure KM21-1: Total irrigable area and areas irrigated in Slovenia; 2000–2019
Sources: 

SORS, 2022

Show data

Irrigable area [ha]

Irrigable area - Sprinkling [ha]

Irrigable area - Drop by drop [ha]

Utilised agricultural area (UAA), total [ha]

SHARE OF IRRIGABLE AREA IN TOTAL UAA [%]

Irrigated area [ha]

Arable land [ha]

Orchards, olive groves, nurseries [ha]

Other [ha]

WATER USE FOR IRRIGATION [1,000 m3]

IRRIGATION WATER ALLOCATION RATES [m3/ha]

2000

4554

508960

0.89

2535

1825

665

45

6569

2591.32

2001

509624

2621

1916

690

15

8384

3198.78

2002

505462

2292

1624

658

10

5257

2293.63

2003

6339

6063

276

509709

1.24

2741

2088

632

21

6383

2328.71

2004

5303

4947

356

490520

1.08

2329

1713

616

0

4553

1954.92

2005

4727

4372

355

508759

0.93

1812

1252

560

0

2309

1274.28

2006

5395

4967

428

490318

1.10

2837

2228

603

6

6344

2236.16

2007

7876

7301

575

498467

1.58

3759

3080

613

66

4440

1181.17

2008

7732

6890

842

492424

1.57

3642

2842

634

166

1728

474.46

2009

7841

5417

2424

468496

1.67

3733

2825

641

267

1955

523.71

2010

7604

5267

2337

482653

1.58

3501

2541

626

334

1608

459.30

2011

8299

5833

2466

458195

1.81

3851

2266

710

875

3147

817.19

2012

5500

5042

458

479653

1.15

2029

676

354

999

2235

1101.53

2013

4772

0

0

478888

1.00

2232

824

550

858

3604

1614.70

2014

5222

0

0

482218

1.08

2324

1036

409

879

1712

736.66

2015

6084

0

0

476862

1.28

3175

1716

514

945

3625

1141.73

2016

5810

0

0

477671

1.22

3133

1735

485

913

3370

1075.65

2017

5997

0

0

481415

1.25

3200

1942

441

817

3898

1218.13

2018

6497

0

0

477296

1.36

3220

2028

430

702

3119

968.63

2019

6673

0

0

479822

1.39

3152

2018

541

560

3247

1030.14

2020

6678

0

0

484063

1.38

3958

2719

577

672

2841

717.79

2021

6576

0

0

479486

1.37

4660

3329

631

700

2782

597.00

Figure KM21-2: Share of irrigable area in total utilised agricultural area in Slovenia and in other EU Member States
Sources: 

Eurostat, 2022

Show data

2000[%]

2010[%]

2016[%]

Ireland

0

0

0

Luxembourg

0

0

0

Latvia

0.04

0.10

0.03

Lithuania

0.05

0.20

Estonia

0

0.30

Slovenia

0.50

1.10

1.10

Czech Republic

0.90

1.30

Belgium

2.34

1

1.80

Poland

2.34

1

1.80

Croatia

1.70

1.90

Finland

3.97

3

2.40

Romania

3.10

2.70

United Kingdom

0.01

0.60

2.80

Bulgaria

3.10

3

Austria

2.81

3.20

3.70

Slovakia

10.43

5.70

3.90

Germany

3.80

4

Hungary

6.76

5

4.90

Sweden

4.45

5.40

5.20

Denmark

16.90

16.20

8.30

France

8.40

9.70

Portugal

20.50

14.70

15.10

Spain

13.30

15.10

15.70

Netherlands

24.57

26

29.10

Greece

36.87

25.10

29.70

Italy

29.52

29.10

32.60

Malta

27.50

32.90

Cyprus

34

34.10


Goals

To increase the extent of irrigable agricultural area by 2020 through upgrading the existing, and constructing new, technologically modern irrigation systems with more efficient water consumption, which should not pose a threat to water sources. The construction of 2,815 hectares of new irrigation systems is planned by the end of the year 2023.


In a situation where agriculture is increasingly faced with longer periods of drought, irrigation in key stages of growth can effectively increase the quantity and quality of crops and thus contribute to less dependence of agricultural production on natural conditions and more stable incomes. At the same time, irrigation is associated with certain environmental risks. The use of water for irrigation can lead to excessive use of water resources, the risk of soil erosion, water pollution with nitrates and pesticides, soil mineralization and other negative consequences for the environment (reduction of biodiversity, disappearance of habitats, reduction of natural and landscape diversity). This risk can be reduced using more modern and rational irrigation technologies and the extent of irrigation that does not threaten the available water resources, which are also the requirements of the EU Water Directive. For all interventions of this kind, in addition to an environmental impact assessment and a nature conservation consent, an analysis of the availability of the water source must also be made and a water permit issued.

In 2000, 4,554 ha, or 0.9% of all agricultural land in use, was prepared for irrigation. In 2019, this area amounted to 6,673 ha, which represents 1.4% of all agricultural land in use. The vast majority of agricultural land is ready for irrigation. In 2012, 91.6% of land was prepared for this type of irrigation, while the remaining land was prepared for drip irrigation.

In 2021, 4,660 hectares of land were irrigated. The structure of land that was irrigated at least once a year is dominated by fields and gardens (in 2021, the share was 71%), followed by permanent plantations (orchards, olive groves and nurseries) and other land, which has a share of around 15%. The most frequently irrigated crops are hops, vegetables, fruit and corn.

The consumption of water for irrigation depends mainly on the weather conditions in a particular year. The average water consumption per hectare of irrigated land was 1,411 m3 per year in the period 2000-2021, from a maximum of 3,199 m3 per hectare in 2001 to a minimum of 459 m3 per hectare in 2010. In the years 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2006, which were the driest, between 6 and 8 million m3 of water was used for irrigation annually (on average 6,920,000 m3 annually), while in the remaining years water consumption was lower (on average 3,079,000 m3 annually).

In Slovenia, the share of land prepared for irrigation in relation to the total agricultural land in use is among the lowest among the EU member states. In 2016, this share was lower than in Slovenia (below 1.0%) in only five member states. In 2016, the largest shares of land prepared for irrigation were in Cyprus, Malta and Italy (over 30%), while among Central and Northern European countries, the Netherlands (29%) is on the rise. Between 2010 and 2016, the share of areas ready for irrigation increased the most in Malta and Greece (+ 5 percentage points), while in Denmark it decreased by almost 8 percentage points.