Droughts and high temperatures, as a consequence of climate change, are already causing losses in agriculture, which will affect the safety of food production and price growth, and education, change of consciousness and support for local producers are some of the measures recommended by the participants of the panel discussion organized by Center for the Improvement of the Environment.
At the meeting “To meet COP29 – Climate action in the field of agriculture”, held in Belgrade, it was pointed out that agriculture is a strategic branch of the economy that should provide food for the population and animals, and that it is also one of the sectors most severely affected by climate change.
Record temperatures and droughts – a reality for farmers
This summer, the hottest in the history of measurements in Serbia, many records were broken in terms of temperatures, and there were 70 days without precipitation. Temperatures in open fields exceeded 50 degrees on some days and did not drop below 30 degrees even during the night, which is an extremely big problem for farmers.
“In the future, summers like this will represent a kind of normal or expected event in Serbia. Extreme summers will be far more serious in terms of these temperature records,” said Vladimir Đurđević, a professor at the Faculty of Physics.
In addition to record temperatures, this year was also one of the driest, considering that from March to August there was extreme drought in 95 and maybe even 99 percent of the territory, said Đurđević and added that this can be fully attributed to climate change.
“The number of severe droughts has doubled and their frequency is directly related to climate change. This summer we lived in climate change 100 percent. Such a summer, with droughts and record temperatures, was not possible in the climate that prevailed in Serbia some 40 years ago,” said Đurđević.
Loss of water resources – a permanent threat for Serbia
He added that all countries will experience permanent changes, damages and losses due to climate change, such as in water resources in Serbia, and that they must prepare for this.
“In our country, analyzes show a permanent loss of the amount of water in underground reservoirs, and this loss can be linked to climate change and increased frequency of droughts, and this is a permanent loss of water as a resource for our country. “There is no plan or measure of adjustment by which you can return water to those underground reservoirs,” said Đurđević.
The decline in grain production reduces the economic contribution of agriculture
Zorica Ranković-Vasić, a professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, said that everyone agrees that storms and droughts have never been this frequent and intense and that it was not such a big problem to produce food.
She added that last winter was extremely warm, the warmest since 1951, without precipitation, winter frost and snow cover, “which is disastrous for agriculture, especially farmers”. Such a winter was followed by frost in the spring, which caused great damage, then rains and storms during the flowering period, and then a dry hot summer.
“All this had an impact on the reduction of yields and on supply and demand, and ultimately on high prices,” said Ranković-Vasić.
She stated that storms, droughts and high temperatures have already affected losses in agriculture, which will also affect the reduction of GDP, bearing in mind that agriculture, according to data from 2020, participates in GDP with a high 7.5 percent , of which 68 percent is crop production, and 32 percent is animal husbandry.
Reduced production and rising food prices – consequences of climate change
Dragana Tar, an associate of the Food and Agriculture Organization, said that according to the data of the Bureau of Statistics from September, it is estimated that the production of wheat decreased by 15 percent, corn by 18 percent, soy by one third, and fruit crops by five to 15 percent.
“It speaks of a season that was heavily influenced by climate change. The question arises as to what this will mean for our economy, exports and for a small agricultural producer from Leskovac whose production of peppers is only 20 percent of the yield it had last year. This means big problems when it comes to income at the farm level, it means the risk of poverty, it means the inability to invest in the next production season, and for us consumers it means that the prices will be higher or it will be more difficult to get some products,” she said. Tar.
Pointing out that there is insufficient food security in the world, Tar pointed out that the key reason for this is conflicts, but that extreme weather conditions and climate change are now prominently appearing as the reason why some countries do not have sufficient access to food.
“The most vulnerable are small agricultural holdings because they have a relatively low capacity to adapt to the risks of climate change,” Tarr said.
She emphasized that “climate-smart agriculture” must be developed, the goal of which is to transform the agricultural system in such a way that certain interventions respond to climate risks and that production is sufficiently productive.
Climate changes, as Đurđević pointed out, contribute to the difficult situation in which farmers find themselves and their struggle becomes epic from year to year. Therefore, it is necessary to better understand the problems of farmers and return them to the status they once had.
The panel discussion is organized as part of the Climate Forum project, which is supported through the ECO-SYSTEM program Support for reforms in environmental protection implemented by the Young Researchers of Serbia (MIS), with the support of Sweden.
Source: Center for Environmental Improvement
Source: energetskiportal.rs
