Under irrigation systems in Croatia only 2.5 percent of agricultural land

In Croatia, the total number of agricultural areas where irrigation is enabled, taking into account previously built systems, is estimated at 23,000 to 26,000 ha, or between 2.1 – 2.4 percent of utilized agricultural land (out of 1,077,403 ha).

In terms of irrigation, Croatia remains at the bottom in the EU. Although approximately 1.3 billion kuna has been invested in the construction of systems since 2005, out of a total of 4.5 billion kuna planned over 15 years, only a negligible number of farmers are connected to them. This raises questions about the entire state irrigation program, as shown by an analysis from Smarter, a consulting firm specialized in the agricultural-food sector.

Due to increasingly frequent and prolonged drought periods, which make agricultural production very risky, the Government of Croatia approved the “National Irrigation and Agricultural Land and Water Management Project” back in 2005. The project aimed to irrigate as much as 65,000 ha or about 6 percent of arable agricultural land by the end of 2020. This plan has not been fulfilled and highlights all the illogicalities of investing in this project and agriculture. So far, new irrigation systems have been built on only about 14,500 ha.

 – In the analysis of irrigation, it is necessary to separate two categories. One is the built systems into which the state invests huge amounts of money to establish, while the other is data on actually irrigated areas, which is almost impossible to obtain in Croatia. Farmers have not yet sufficiently developed awareness that irrigation is one of the key amelioration measures that is necessary due to climate change to increase or maintain yield levels. The low interest in connecting is influenced by high equipment and connection costs, as well as the fragmentation of land, but also the uncertainty of long-term leasing of state agricultural land, which is often an obstacle to investment – said Smarter consultant Marina Kresoja.

Water is a strategic resource of the 21st century. Although it covers 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, the share of fresh water is only three percent, and as much as one quarter of the world’s population does not have sufficient access to drinking water. Ensuring drinking water is today a major economic, economic, and security issue at the global level. Croatia is one of the few countries that has significant reserves of clean drinking water. Among 188 countries in the world, it ranks fifth in Europe and 42nd in the world in terms of wealth and availability of water sources per capita. However, irrigation, as an amelioration measure, has been little applied in Croatia and is still applied too little despite rich natural resources – quality soils and abundant water.

It is also disappointing for Croatia that some irrigation systems, built with state funds, are already completely unused, devastated, and neglected. The most obvious example is the Opatovac system in the Vukovar-Srijem County, into which about 100 million kuna was invested and irrigation of over 700 ha of agricultural land was planned. This system has not functioned for 10 years, and the pumping station has never been put into operation, meaning not a single hectare is irrigated. Other systems built with state funds have also failed to fulfill their purpose due to a lack of end users, which raises questions about investing in systems that are deteriorating, according to Smarter. 

Huge water reserves, but increasingly weaker agriculture

The Ministry of Environment and Energy and Croatian Waters have data on agricultural areas where irrigation is enabled through the implementation of the NAPNAV project, but unfortunately, there is no data on how many farmers are connected to them and how much area is actually irrigated. The last agricultural census was in 2003, and according to it, Croatia had 9,264 ha under irrigation, or only 0.86 percent of utilized agricultural land (out of 1,077,403 ha). Before the Homeland War, Croatia had 13,000 ha under irrigation, and some of them were destroyed in wartime devastation or have since become completely neglected.

Through the implementation of NAPNAV, national funds have built 10 new irrigation systems covering an area of 9,032 ha, for which about 417 million kuna has been invested. Four irrigation systems have been fully rehabilitated: SN Vrana (530 ha) in Zadar County, SN Grabovo (677 ha) and SN Borinci (700 ha) in Vukovar-Srijem County, and SN Valtura (approximately 80 ha) in Istria County. Partial rehabilitation has been carried out on five irrigation systems covering a total area of about 2,000 ha (SN Sinjsko polje, SN Imotsko polje, SN Rastok, SN Neretvansko polje, SN Puškaš/Osijek).

Through the program of complete and partial rehabilitation of existing irrigation systems, irrigation has been enabled on a total of 3,987 ha (9 systems), for which about 48 million kuna has been invested. As of the end of 2016, the implementation of NAPNAV has enabled irrigation on a total of 13,019 ha.

At the beginning of the implementation of the Rural Development Program, the construction of irrigation systems was transferred to this program. The Agency for Payments in Agriculture accepted 17 new projects (covering a total of 7,072 ha) through two calls for proposals (2016 and 2019) and approved funding for their construction in the amount of 666.40 million kuna. By the end of 2019, construction work on four public irrigation systems (Đolta, Sopot, Blata-Cerna, and Baštica Phase 2, covering 1,515 ha) was completed, and during 2020 and 2021, the completion of another five systems (Novi Gradac-Detkovac, Orubica, Červar-Porat-Bašarinka, Lišansko polje, and Glog – a total of 2,108 ha) is expected.

For the remaining eight projects, procurement documentation has been prepared from two calls for proposals from APPRRR, and after all controls are completed, tenders for the procurement of works and services will be announced. State institutions believe that with the completion of all public irrigation projects, for which funding has been approved through the Rural Development Program, irrigation will be enabled on a total of 7,072 ha. Preparatory study and project documentation for 27 new projects covering a total area of 20,894 ha is also underway, with funding for construction planned through the Rural Development Program for the next programming period.

Why is there no interest in irrigation

Despite huge investments, they do not yield results in terms of connections to systems and the expected yield growth in production, raising the legitimate question of why huge amounts of money are invested in building systems if farmers do not connect to them and they remain unused, explains Marina Kresoja. 

Smarter experts believe that it is necessary to analyze the reasons for the non-use of these systems and determine the real effects of these investments on production. We are convinced that there are various ways to reduce connection costs to the systems, and it is necessary to devise measures that would encourage farmers to change their thinking and use irrigation in production – especially in the production of vegetables, fruits, and other crops, as climate change and prolonged droughts are becoming more frequent. Croatia had record low rainfall from January to April, and given the forecasts that this summer could also be dry, as well as the enormous damage that droughts have caused to agriculture in the last decade, education on the benefits of irrigation should also begin.

Mediterranean countries irrigate the most

According to EU statistical data, the average share of irrigated areas at the EU-27 level, excluding Germany and Estonia, is 6.7 percent, while at the level of Mediterranean countries it is as high as 12.5 percent. There are also EU member states such as the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovenia that have even smaller areas in relation to total arable land than Croatia, but with the current approximately 2.5 percent, Croatia is far below the EU average and even further from countries with a similar climate to ours.

According to Eurostat data from 2016, there were 15.5 million ha under irrigation systems at the EU level, or nine percent of all areas, while 10.2 million ha or 5.9 percent were connected to these systems. In terms of the share of irrigated areas, Malta leads with 31.4 percent of its area, followed by Greece – 23.6 percent, Cyprus 21 percent, Italy 20 percent, etc. In EU countries, Spain, known for its fruit and vegetable production, has over 3 million hectares (13.2 percent) under irrigation, while in Italy it is 2.6 million hectares.

Israel is a model for most countries in irrigation. More than 60 percent of Israel’s area is defined as semi-arid or arid. Israel’s arable land amounts to 420,000 ha, of which as much as 46 percent is under irrigation systems. In Israel, everything is irrigated except for wheat and barley. In this country, agricultural production has increased 12 times in the last few decades, while water consumption has tripled, which is the result of the best technologies in irrigation and the use of all types of water, water purification, and desalination.

– Although we have a plan and strategy NAPNAV, it clearly does not yield results, and every new dry year reminds us that we have fallen short in agricultural policy to that extent. The approach started with the importance of building systems, but what happens next seems to be of no concern to the state that builds them, as there is still no serious consideration on how to encourage a large number of farmers to use the systems. The current situation is such that it is as if highways are built on which no one ultimately drives –  concludes Smarter.

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