Research Projects

Research Organisation Partners

• Biotechnical Faculty,  University of Ljubljana
• Slovenian Geological Survey
• KGZS – Kmetijsko gozdarski zavod Nova Gorica
   

Abstract

Slovenia is a signatory to the Barcelona Convention, adopted within the framework of the United Nations. The content of the convention also defines the impact of agriculture on the waters that flow into the Mediterranean Sea. The convention recognizes agriculture as one of the biggest polluters of water resources. In this regard, the Soča river with its tributaries, which flows into the Adriatic Sea, is highlighted as a problematic river in Slovenia.

The reasons for residues of unabsorbed nutrients and pesticides in the soil, which are exposed to washing away during heavy rains, are: (1) unprofessional management of agricultural land (use of organic and mineral fertilizers without soil analysis and preparation of a fertilizer plan, without plant and soil N tests), (2) ) fertilizing during the period of rainfall, (3) excessive amounts of irrigation, (4) longer dry periods without irrigation or without the possibility of irrigation, which impairs the absorption of nutrients, (5) not implementing sustainable use of pesticides without following the principles of good agricultural practice.

With the research project, we will define the impact of irrigation on the state of water bodies in Slovenia, as the aim is to define the problem at the level of the entire country and not only at the level of an individual water body or catchment area. In Slovenia, the area of ​​land prepared for irrigation increased from 4,554 ha to 6,576 ha in the period 2000-2021, and their share in total agricultural land in use increased from 0.9% to 1.4%. The actual use of irrigation systems varies from year to year depending on rainfall, crop rotation, cultivated crops, etc.  As much as 72% of all irrigation water is used in the Adriatic Sea basin and the rest in the Danube Basin. The basic goal of irrigation is to provide suitable conditions for plant growth. The basic goal of irrigation is to provide suitable conditions for plant growth.

The goals of the project are (1) to analyze the actual extent of irrigated areas within the irrigation systems in Slovenia; (2) collect data and analyze land use and crop production; (3) analyze the water entering individual (selected) irrigation systems with the help of measurements and publicly available data; (4) record technologies and use of pesticides and fertilizers in the areas of individual (selected) irrigation systems from observations and publicly available data; (5) analyze the water that drains from the area of ​​individual (selected) irrigation systems with the help of measurements and publicly available data; (6) based on the data, evaluate the level of water pollution and the impact of irrigation systems on an individual (selected) body of water; (7) prepare a computer model of the impact of irrigation systems on water bodies using different scenarios of agricultural production technologies; (8) define the impact of irrigation on the state of waters in Slovenia; (9) transfer of knowledge about professionally correct and precise irrigation, use of pesticides and fertilizers into practice.

The content of the project thus includes several work packages, which lead to the main goal, i.e. defining the impact of irrigation on the quality state of waters in Slovenia. The main research work will be divided into 5 steps: (1) Analysis of the actual extent of irrigated areas within the irrigation systems (NS) in Slovenia by collecting data and analyzing land use and cultures, (2) Recorded irrigation technologies and the use of pesticides and fertilizers in the areas of selected irrigation systems, (3) Definition of the main indicators of water pollution from the field of agriculture and analysis of water that enters and leaves irrigated agricultural land, (4) Definition of the impact of irrigation on the state of water in Slovenia, and (5) Transfer of knowledge about the professional and correct use of water, the use of pesticides and fertilizers on irrigated agricultural land in practice.

Researchers

Biotechnical Faculty UL – Lead partner

28495 - Matjaž Glavan (R)

31232 - Rozalija Cvejić (R)

10024 - Marina Pintar (R)

19259 - Vesna Zupanc (R)

Slovenian Geological Survey – partner

35387 - Anja Koroša (R)

32051 - Sonja Cerar (R)

17247 - Miroslav Medić (T)

56294 - Nejc Bizjak (T)

KGZS Kmetijsko gozdarski zavod Nova Gorica – partner

54534 - Vasja Juretič (R)           

33038 - Anka Poženel (R)

33039 - Mojca Mavrič Štrukelj (R)

56668 - Julija Dariž (R)

54919 - Uroš Ipavec (T)

The phases of the project and their realization

Project implementation plan by work packages:

DS 1 SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF IRRIGATED AGRICULTURAL AREAS (1-12 months) (led by BF-UL)

1.1 Analysis of the actual extent of irrigated areas within irrigation systems in SLO (1-12 months) (BF-UL)

1.2 Analysis of use and agricultural cultures in the NS area (1-12 months) (BF-UL)

DS2 RECORDING OF FARMING TECHNOLOGY IN IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN THE SELECTED AREA (1-17 months) (led by KGZS KGZ GO, participating BF UL, GeoZS)

2.1 Determination of the research area (1-4 months) (KGZS KGZ GO)

2.2 Monitoring and analysis of the technology of cultivation, irrigation, use of fertilizers and FFS in NS (1-17 months) (KGZS KGZ GO)

DS3 ANALYSIS OF WATER QUALITY IN THE SELECTED AREA (1-17 months) (Waters GeoZS, participating BF-UL, KGZS KGZ GO)

3.1 Determination of indicators of water pollution from the field of agriculture (1-4 months) (GeoZS)

3.2 Analysis of the quality of water resources in irrigation systems (5-17 months) (GeoZS)

3.3 Analysis of water quality in runoff (surface/seepage) (5-17 months) (GeoZS)

DS4 DETERMINATION OF THE IMPACT OF IRRIGATION SYSTEMS ON WATER BODIES IN SLOVENIA (17-24 months) (led by BF UL, participating GeoZS, KGZS KGZ GO)

4.1 Evaluation of the degree of water pollution of water bodies due to the influence of irrigation systems in Slovenia (17-21 months) (GeoZS)

4.2 Modeling the impact of irrigation systems on water bodies using different scenarios (12-21 months) (BF UL)

4.3 Definition of the impact of agricultural land irrigation on the state of water bodies and recommendations (21-24 months) (BF-UL)

DS5 Project management, knowledge transfer and dissemination of results (1-24 months) (led by BF UL, participating GeoZS, KGZS KGZ GO)

5.1 Transfer of knowledge (19-24 months) (BF UL, GeoZS, KGZS KGZ GO)

• Presentation of the project, individual workshops with farmers in the area of ​​irrigation systems with the collection of information on production technologies of irrigated agricultural land (1-6 months);
• Workshop or an online course with farmers on efficient, professionally correct irrigation and accurate use of fertilizers and FFS in the area of ​​irrigation systems (18-24 months);
• Educational online course for agricultural consultants, specialists responsible for the promotion of irrigation, water resources, the environment, vegetable growing, fruit growing, agriculture, as well as field consultants with the aim of transferring knowledge to the people who have the most contact and the highest level of trust with end users (18-24 months) ;
• Final project presentation and expert meeting with presentations of the final project report (MOPE, MNVRP, MKGP, ARSO, KGZS, SKZGS, irrigation communities, farmers) (24 months).

5.2 Dissemination (13-24 months) (BF UL, GeoZS, KGZS KGZ GO)

5.3 Project coordination (1-24 months) (BF UL)