IUNG: drought is getting worse. Where and for which crops is the situation the worst?

IUNG: susza się pogłębia. Gdzie i w jakich uprawach sytuacja jest najgorsza?

In the period 21.06-20.08 the Climatic Water Balance for Poland dropped to -79 mm.
The largest water deficits were found, among others, in the eastern part of the country and on the border of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Greater Poland voivodeships.
Water deficit most affected silage maize.

Where has drought been reported?

The tenth drought report of the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation – State Research Institute in Puławy for the period from June 21 to August 20, 2024 has been published. On average for the entire country, the value of the Climatic Water Balance (KBW) was -79 mm, which means that water evaporation exceeds atmospheric precipitation, and as a result, we are dealing with a water deficit. Compared to the previous report, the water deficit increased by 1 mm.

Agricultural drought occurred in this period in thirteen voivodeships: Lublin, Podlaskie, Podkarpackie, Mazovia, Greater Poland, Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Łódź, Świętokrzyskie, Opole, Silesia, West Pomerania, Lesser Poland and Warmian-Masurian. Of these, the largest water deficit (KBW from -160 to -219 mm) was recorded in the Mazovian and Podlaskie Lowlands, Polesie and the Sandomierz Basin.

In turn, the smallest water shortage was found in the south, west and north-west of the country (KBW -50 to -119 mm). The drought criterion was not exceeded only in three voivodeships: Lower Silesia, Lubuskie and Pomerania.

IUNG also notes that on a national scale, drought in the tenth reporting period is relatively small, which is due to heavy precipitation, which locally exceeded the multi-year norm many times over. There was also no rapid increase in evapotranspiration. For comparison, let us recall that in the same period in 2022, the KBW value dropped to -123 mm.

Rapeseed volunteers draw more water with each successive leaf

Which crops have the greatest water deficit?

According to the IUNG-PIB report, drought was recorded in nine crops in the reporting period: maize for silage and grain, fruit bushes, legumes, potatoes, field vegetables, tobacco, hops and sugar beet.

The drought has hit silage corn crops the hardest. Farmers in the eastern part of the country have been reporting the dramatic condition of crops for many weeks. In the rest of the country, the rainfall deficit has also drastically worsened the condition of silage corn, and in many places farmers have quickly started harvesting to "save" what remains of the plantations. Drought on silage corn plantations has been recorded on 3.34% of arable land in the country, with the largest share of communes with drought recorded in the Lublin, Podlaskie and Podkarpackie provinces.

Among agricultural crops, drought of similar intensity also occurred in the cultivation of grain maize. On a smaller scale, drought also affected the cultivation of legumes and root crops, with the strongest drought in the Podkarpackie province.

As a result of the humidity conditions in the tenth reporting period, we have identified the occurrence of agricultural drought in the territory of Poland, causing yield losses of monitored crops by at least 20% compared to the yields obtained in average multi-year weather conditions – we read in the IUNG report.