KAZALCI OKOLJA

Key message
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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.


Methodology

Date of data source summarization