5 Irrigation and Drainage in Polish Agriculture …
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technology and their prices, operation and maintenance costs, prices for water drawn
for irrigation, application of fertilizers, etc.
Increased frequency and dangerous character of droughts, the encouragement of
agricultural production, being forced by the internal domestic and all-European freemarket competition aspects, cause more rapid irrigation improvement. Moreover, the
importance of reaching sufficiently high quality of almost all agricultural products is
found to be accelerating the development of irrigation. This will gain new significance
in coherence with the intensification of agriculture (e.g. in horticulture, orchards,
seed crops) and major effects of climate changes, as it was already stressed. It has
already been discussed, that many regions of Poland would face serious irrigation
restrictions because of the availability of water resources. From the viewpoint of
hydrologic conditions, a limit to irrigation is created by the lack of water due to
the co-existence of drought and lowered river water levels as well as the decreased
storage of lakes and retention reservoirs. Then, the water management is assigned
a role to regulate the outflow, meaning proper conditions for water retention and
adjusted discharge in the cases of water excess. This seems to be crucial in the spring
season and particularly after the occurrence of high precipitation, when storage in the
soil profile and the network of ditches should take place. It may be also supported by
implementation of local water harvesting reservoirs and dams as well as across-field
structures to restrict water outflow directly at local field-plots.
5.4.5 Recommendations
There exists a variety of measures that could be recommended in order to accomplish
the strategic goal—controlling water management in irrigation/drainage systems. All
of them, individually, should be aimed at improving:
– conditions for water retention in the periods of its excess—in the spring and
after abundant precipitation (construction of retention reservoirs and water structures to restrict water outflow from fields, erosion control measures, soil technical
management, water harvesting etc.),
– the efficiency of water utilization including irrigation.
Finally, they should lead to:
– an increase in the standing and flowing water resources,
– a growth in agricultural water use effectiveness,
– a decrease in crop water requirements.
These actions trigger the water unit productivity, at the same time reduce water
losses and pointless water discharges. Moreover, they are directed at the decrease of
droughts risk by collecting water beforehand or reduce all the major consequences in
periods of water deficit. Controlled water management in a watershed that contains
retention reservoirs and dammed lakes also limits the low water stage periods in
running waters and modifies the frequency of their occurrence. A point should
111
technology and their prices, operation and maintenance costs, prices for water drawn
for irrigation, application of fertilizers, etc.
Increased frequency and dangerous character of droughts, the encouragement of
agricultural production, being forced by the internal domestic and all-European freemarket competition aspects, cause more rapid irrigation improvement. Moreover, the
importance of reaching sufficiently high quality of almost all agricultural products is
found to be accelerating the development of irrigation. This will gain new significance
in coherence with the intensification of agriculture (e.g. in horticulture, orchards,
seed crops) and major effects of climate changes, as it was already stressed. It has
already been discussed, that many regions of Poland would face serious irrigation
restrictions because of the availability of water resources. From the viewpoint of
hydrologic conditions, a limit to irrigation is created by the lack of water due to
the co-existence of drought and lowered river water levels as well as the decreased
storage of lakes and retention reservoirs. Then, the water management is assigned
a role to regulate the outflow, meaning proper conditions for water retention and
adjusted discharge in the cases of water excess. This seems to be crucial in the spring
season and particularly after the occurrence of high precipitation, when storage in the
soil profile and the network of ditches should take place. It may be also supported by
implementation of local water harvesting reservoirs and dams as well as across-field
structures to restrict water outflow directly at local field-plots.
5.4.5 Recommendations
There exists a variety of measures that could be recommended in order to accomplish
the strategic goal—controlling water management in irrigation/drainage systems. All
of them, individually, should be aimed at improving:
– conditions for water retention in the periods of its excess—in the spring and
after abundant precipitation (construction of retention reservoirs and water structures to restrict water outflow from fields, erosion control measures, soil technical
management, water harvesting etc.),
– the efficiency of water utilization including irrigation.
Finally, they should lead to:
– an increase in the standing and flowing water resources,
– a growth in agricultural water use effectiveness,
– a decrease in crop water requirements.
These actions trigger the water unit productivity, at the same time reduce water
losses and pointless water discharges. Moreover, they are directed at the decrease of
droughts risk by collecting water beforehand or reduce all the major consequences in
periods of water deficit. Controlled water management in a watershed that contains
retention reservoirs and dammed lakes also limits the low water stage periods in
running waters and modifies the frequency of their occurrence. A point should