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.
Droughts and high temperatures, as a result 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.
Record temperatures and droughts – a reality for farmers
Ovog leta, najtoplijeg u istoriji merenja u Srbiji, oboreni su mnogi rekordi u pogledu temperatura, a 70 dana je bilo bez padavina. Temperature na otvorenim poljima su nekim danima prelazile 50 stepeni a ni tokom noći se nisu spuštale ispod 30 stepeni, što je izuzetno veliki problem za poljoprivrednike.
In addition to the 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, which can be fully attributed to climate change.
Loss of water resources – a permanent threat for Serbia
In our country, analyzes show a constant loss of water in underground reservoirs, and this loss can be linked to climate change and increased frequency of droughts. It is a permanent loss of water as a resource for which there is no plan or adaptation measure to return water to those underground reservoirs.
The decline in grain production reduces the economic contribution of agriculture
Last winter was extremely warm, the warmest since 1951, without precipitation, winter frost and snow cover, which is disastrous for agriculture, especially farmers. After such a winter, there was a frost in the spring, which caused great damage, then rains and storms during the flowering period, and then a dry hot summer, which affected the reduction of yields and supply and demand, and finally high prices (agriculture, according to according to data from 2020, it participates in the GDP with a high 7.5 percent, of which 68 percent is plant production, and 32 percent is animal husbandry).
Reduced production and rising food prices – consequences of climate change
Prema podacima Zavoda za statistiku iz septembra, procenjuje se da je proizvodnja pšenice smanjena 15 odsto, kukuruza 18 odsto, soje za jednu trećinu a voćarskih kultura od pet do 15 odsto. Najugroženiji su mala poljoprivredna gazdinstva jer imaju relativno nizak kapacitet da se prilagode na rizike koje nose klimatske promene.
At the meeting, it was concluded that it is necessary to develop “climate-smart agriculture”, 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.
The panel discussion is organized within the Climate Forum project, which is supported through the program ECO-SYSTEM Support for reforms in environmental protection who conduct Young Researchers of Serbia (MIS)with the support of Sweden.
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Source: www.e2.rs
