Weather characteristics with aspect of maize and sunflower growing in context of climatic changes

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1 ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC PAPER Weather characteristics with aspect of maize and sunflower growing in context of climatic changes Nikolina DOKIĆ 1a, Ruzica ORŠOLIĆ 1a, Vlado KOVAČEVIĆ 1, Mirta RASTIJA 1, Dario ILJKIĆ 1 1 University J. J. Strossmayer in Osijek, Faculty of Agriculture in Osijek,Kralja Petra Svačića 1d, Osijek, Croatia, ( nd1246@gmail.com) 1a Students of Plant Growing course Plant Production Abstract Maize and sunflower covering about 40% of arable land or ha (29.3% and 9.4%, for maize and sunflower) of four countries (Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Serbia) region. The growing seasons 2010 and 2012 are typical examples of climate trend characterized deviation of precipitation and temperature from standard averages. Annual grain yields of maize in the region for period were from 2.83 to 5.39 t ha -1. Year effect on maize yield was very considerable because the lowest yield in 2012 (drought and high temperature stress) was for 47% lower than the highest yield in Yield variation of sunflower was lower, from 1.69 t ha -1 (2012) to 2.07 t ha -1 (2011). Key words: maize, sunflower, yield, climatic changes Introduction Climate changes, especially precipitation and temperature regimes, have often adverse influence on field crop yields. Lobell and Field (2007) estimated that about 30% variations of global average yields for the world s six most widely grown crops (wheat, rice, maize, soybeans, barley and sorghum) are result of growing season precipitation and temperature variations. Production of these crops accounts for over 40% of global cropland area, 55% of non-meat calories and over 70% of animal feed (FAO, 2006). In general, the lower precipitation and the higher air-temperatures in summer, especially in July and August, usually are in close connection with the lower yields of spring crops, especially maize (Kovačević et al., 2013) and soybeans, while sunflower is more tolerant to drought and the high temperatures (Liović et al., 2012). The region of four countries (Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Serbia) covering territory of km 2. Agricultural area participating with 54% of territory, while arable land covering 68% of agricultural land and 37% of total territory of these four countries. In general, maize and sunflower are main field crops with specified structure of field crops growing in level of individual countries. Maize and sunflower covering about 40% of arable land or ha and ha or 29.3% and 9.4%, for maize and sunflower, respectively (Table 1). Weather characteristics of individual growing season are important factor of maze and sunflower yields. With that regard, climatic change has more negative impacts on maize. Aim of this study was testing impact of weather characteristics (monthly precipitation and mean air-temperature) on maize and sunflower yields with emphasis on climatic changes. Proceedings. 50 th Croatian and 10 th International Symposium on Agriculture. Opatija. Croatia ( ) th Croatian and 10 th International Symposium on Agriculture

2 Weather characteristics with aspect of maize and sunflower growing in context of climatic changes Material and methods Description of the area The region of four neighboring countries (Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Serbia: territory ha) was selected for this study. Agricultural land participating with ha or 54% of total territory (arable land: 68% of agricultural land) - Table 1. Because of its position on the southeastern part of the European continent, the region has a climate which ranges from moderate to continental. In general, annual precipitation decreases from west to east with some modifications from mountains to plains (climatemps.com; climate-data.org): Zagreb 883 mm, Osijek 601 mm, Debrecen 563 mm, Craiova 582 mm, Constanta 396 mm. Table 1. Agricultural and arable land areas of the region Agricultural area and arable land areas (1000 ha) in Croatia (HR), Hungary (HU), Romania (RO) and Serbia (SRB): averages (faostat.fao.org) HR HU RO SRB Total HR HU RO SRB Total Agricultural land area (1000 ha) Arable land area (1000 ha) Territory of the country (1000 ha) Main field crops in the region of four countries (averages : Table 2) are maize ( ha), wheat ( ha), sunflower ( ha), barley ( ha) and rape seeds ( ha). The rang-list following soybean ( ha), oats ( ha), sugar beet ( ha) and rye ( ha). Based on 5-year averages ( ) about third part of total harvested area of maize and sunflower in Europe are situated in these four countries (Table 2), while share of this region in the harvested area of the other crops is considerably lower (soybean 11.9%, rape seeds 7.2%, wheat 6.5%, oats 4.8%, sugar beet 3.7%, barley 3.5% and rye 1.1%). Yields of the mentioned crops are mainly lower, particularly maize (24% lower yield) and rape seeds (26% lower yield) in comparison with averages in level of Europe, with exception of soybean (35% higher yield) and sunflower (25% higher yield). Section 5. Field Crop Production 339

3 Nikolina DOKIĆ, Ruzica ORŠOLIĆ, Vlado KOVAČEVIĆ, Mirta RASTIJA, Dario ILJKIĆ Table 2. The harvested area and yields of main field crop The harvested area and yields of main field crops averages (faostat.fao.org) Maize Wheat Barley Oats Rye Sunflower Soybean S. beet Rape s. The harvested area (ha) and yields (t ha -1 ) in level of the country HR HU RO SRB The harvested area (1000 ha), production (1000 t) and yields (t ha -1 ) in level of the region 1000 ha t t ha The harvested area (1000 ha) and yields (t ha -1 ) in Europe 1000 ha t ha Share (%) of the region in harvested area of individual crops % Index of yield of the region (Europe = 100) Index Collection of the data Agricultural land and arable land capacities, as the harvested area, production and yield data were collected from FAO database (fao.fao.org). The meteorological data were collected from TuTiempo.net base and State Hydrometeorological Service in Zagreb. Weather characteristics The growing seasons 2010 and 2012 are typical examples of climate trend characterized deviation of precipitation and temperature regimes in short period at the same areas in comparison by standard averages (Table 3). Precipitation and mean air-temperatures in the April-September period in Osijek were 676 mm and 18.3 o C for 2010 and 293 mm and 20.0 o C for 2012 (30-year means 368 mm and 17.6 o C, respectively). The analogical data for Debrecen are 585 mm and 17.7 o C (2010), 250 mm and 19.5 o C (2012) and 30-year averages 346 mm and 16.8 o C. Precipitation in Craiova in the April-September period were considerably lower in 2010 (361 mm) compared to Debrecen and Osijek, while air-temperature were the higher (19.1 o C). Weather characteristics in Craiova for the 2012 growing season characterized considerably lower precipitation in the June-September period (only 60 mm) in comparison to Debrecen (163 mm) and Osijek (152 mm). Also, average temperature in the 2012 growing season in Craiova (20.9 o C) were the higher than in Osijek (20.0 o C and Debrecen (19.5 o C). The highest monthly average air-temperatures for period were in July 2012 (Osijek 24.8 o C, Debrecen 24.1 o C and Craiova even 26.9 o C). The most favorable weather characteristics for maize were in 2010 and especially unfavorable was the 2012 growing season. However, with aspect of sunflower growth, the growing seasons 2010 and 2012 were less favorable. Sunflower is susceptible to oversupply of precipitation and for this reason yields of sunflower in th Croatian and 10 th International Symposium on Agriculture

4 Weather characteristics with aspect of maize and sunflower growing in context of climatic changes 2010 were low. Although sunflower prefers better dry than wet climate, extreme drought resulted by the low yields of sunflower in 2012, particularly in Romania (Table 4). Table 3. Monthly values of precipitation and mean air-temperatures Precipitation and mean air-temperatures in 2010, 2012 and average (61-90) Year Monthly precipitation (mm) Monthly mean air-temperatures ( o C) Apr May June July Aug Sept Σ Apr May June July Aug Sept X Osijek: Latitude 45 o 32 N, Longitude 18 o 44 E, Altitude 90 m Debrecen: Latitude 47 o 29 N, Longitude 21 o 36 E, Altitude 109 m Craiova: Latitude 44 o 19 N, Longitude 23 o 52 E, Altitude 193 m Results and discussion Annual grain yields of maize in the region for period were from 2.83 to 5.39 t ha -1 (Table 4). Year effect on maize yield was very considerable factor because the lowest yield in 2012 was for 47% lower compared to the highest yield in However, average yield of maize in the period was yield variation in remaining four years was 5.04 t ha -1 and variation among the years from 4.80 to 5.39 t ha -1. In general, annual yields of maize (5-year averages) were the lowest in Romania (3.55 t ha -1 ), follows Serbia (4.79 t ha -1 ), Hungary (6.16 t ha -1 ) and Croatia (6.45 t ha -1 ). The highest yield of maize in the region was in 2010 (5.39 t ha -1 ). Under unfavorable weather conditions of 2012 characterized by drought and high temperatures, grain yields of maize were in Croatia and Hungary lower for 38%, in Romania for 50% and in Serbia for 53% than under wet and lower temperature conditions of Section 5. Field Crop Production 341

5 Nikolina DOKIĆ, Ruzica ORŠOLIĆ, Vlado KOVAČEVIĆ, Mirta RASTIJA, Dario ILJKIĆ Country Table 4. The harvested area and grain yield of maize and sunflower (faostat.fao.org) The harvested area (ha) and yield (t ha -1 ) in Croatia (HR), Hungary (HU), Romania (RO) and Serbia (SRB) Year Year Mean X Maize The harvested area (ha) Grain yield (t ha -1 ) HR HU RO SRB Total Production (1000 t) of maize in the region Maize yield in the region (t ha -1 ) 1000 t Sunflower The harvested area (ha) Grain yield of sunflower (t ha -1 ) HR HU RO SRB Total Production (1000 t) of sunflower in the region Sunflower yield in region (t ha -1 ) 1000 t Maize and sunflower harvested area (ha) and percent of arable land (%) of the region ha % The region area (1000 ha) HR HU RO SRB = Agricultural area (average ) HR HU RO SRB = Arable land area (average ) HR HU RO SRB = Month Table 5. Mean maximal and absolute maximal air-temperatures (Kovačević et al., 2013) Average maximal (AverageM) and absolute maximal (AbsoluteM) air-temperature in the 10-days intervals in July and August 2010 and 2012 (a = 1-10; b = 11 20; c = 21 30/31) AverageM ( o C) AbsoluteM ( o C) AverageM ( o C) AbsoluteM ( o C) a b c a b c a b c a b c The 2010 growing season Osijek Debrecen July August The 2012 growing season Osijek Debrecen July August In general, annual yield variation of sunflower in the region were considerably lower in comparison to maize because the lowest annual yield 1.69 t ha -1 in 2012 is for 18% lower than the highest yield 2.07 t ha -1 in This is indication of better degree of sunflower adaptability to weather deviations. Under weather conditions of 2010 and 2012 yields of sunflower were considerably lower (average 1.74 t ha -1 ) than in the remaining three th Croatian and 10 th International Symposium on Agriculture

6 Weather characteristics with aspect of maize and sunflower growing in context of climatic changes years (average 2.00 t ha -1 ), mainly as affected by oversupplies of precipitation in 2010 and drought stress in Mean sunflower yield in level of the countries were from 1.52 t ha -1 in Romania to 2.79 t ha -1 in Croatia. Absolute maximal temperature (Table 5) occurred at the beginning (Debrecen 37.5 o C) and the end of August 2012 (Osijek 40.3 o C) was reason for too early maturity and considerable loss of the spring crops yields, particularly maize. Precipitation and temperature regime in the same period of 2010 were normal regarding maize and sunflower growth (Table 3). For example, mean air- temperature in the warmest part of the 2010 growing season (the second 10-days of July) were 28.1 o C (Debrecen) and 32.0 o C (Osijek) and absolute maximal temperature (mainly at the end of August) in 2010 were in both cities 35.0 o C (Table 5). The 2012 drought devastated non-irrigated maize and sunflower yields in the region (Table 3). Alleviation of drought stress and extreme high temperature stress for maize and sunflower is possible by irrigation, growing of more tolerant genotypes and adequate soil management (Kovačević and Rastija, 2014). Stojić et al., (2012) tested impacts of ameliorative fertilization with phosphorus and potassium on yields of field crops. Three steps of individual nutrients up to 1500 kg ha -1 and combination (1000 kg P 2 O kg K 2 O ha - 1 ) were applied. Application of both P and K fertilizers resulted with significant increase of maize yields from 7% to 16%. Under drought stress of 2009 and 2011 their effect was 14% and 16%, respectively. Conclusions The period in the region of four countries (Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Serbia) characterizing very different weather conditions with aspect of maize and sunflower growth. With that regard, the growing seasons 2010 and 2012 were quite different and extreme weather conditions are in accordance with the global climatic changes. Sunflower is more adaptable to specific of weather characteristics because the lowest annual yield was for 18% lower in comparison with the highest annual yield in the region, while analogical comparison for maize was 47%. References FAO (2006). FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) FAO Statistical Databases ( Kovačević V., Kovačević D., Pepo P., Marković M. (2013). Climate change in Croatia, Serbia, Hungary and Bosnia and Herzegovina: comparison the 2010 and 2012 maize growing seasons. Poljoprivreda / Agriculture 19 (2): Kovačević V., Rastija M. (2014). The Cereals (university book). University J. J. Strossmayer in Osijek, Faculty of Agriculture (in Croatian). Liović I., Mijić A., Krizmanić M., Pepo P., Kovačević V., Markulj A., Duvnjak T., Krizmanić G. (2012). Influence of sunflower cytoplasmic male sterile and restorer line on grain yield stability among different environmental conditions. Acta Agronomica Hungarica, 60 (3): Lobell D., Field C. (2007). Global scale climate crop yield relationships and the impacts of recent warming ( Stojić B., Kovačević V., Šeput M., Kaučić D., Mikoč V. (2012). Maize yields variation among years as function of weather regimes and fertilization. Növénytermelés 61: sa2015_p0509 Section 5. Field Crop Production 343