Water shortages and infections threaten agriculture
2023. July 27.The global water crisis is felt by all.
It also has a major impact on arable land, horticulture, among other things, but can also destroy livestock farming, creating a total ecological emergency.
The devastation is already significant and we are nowhere near what scientists have predicted for us.
In this article, we look at water scarcity and infections in more detail.
We tell you what to expect in the future.
The situation is dire on all fronts
Whether it’s rain or drought, too much or too little water can cause huge problems.
The problem is that relatively high rainfall is useless if it is not distributed properly.
While the western part of Transdanubia often receives a lot of rain in Hungary, the lowlands suffer.
That was the case last year, but it is the same now.
It does not help that the reservoirs are constantly running out of water, so sooner or later we will have to face a shortage this year too.
Many reservoirs are not only responsible for the supply of drinking water, but are also often a key source of irrigation water.
It is clear that barley, wheat and maize are all facing losses, as the rapid run-off of water caused problems in many areas in spring and early summer.
Conversely, some areas continue to suffer from soil water shortages, with the result that in many places in these agricultural regions, cereals are barely surviving.
If this remains the case, some crops may be able to weather the disaster, but in many cases the extreme weather conditions could have unforeseen consequences, agrarszektor.hu reports.
And during the summer, the heat accelerates the drying out of the soil and the humid air is conducive to bacterial diseases and infections.
So there is a big threat to crop production, where fungal diseases are a major problem.
Of course, the disaster situation is not confined to our own country: it is a problem in neighbouring countries and indeed throughout Europe and the world.
It is not only the region that is facing food and feed supply problems as a result of the significant losses.
Change is needed
Agricultural economists warn that if we don’t keep water in the country, the drought affecting agriculture will have serious consequences in the future.
Even though there has been a lot of rain in some places, some Hungarian farmland is still in deficit, which is holding back the growth of crops.
The shortfall is expected to be made up with Ukrainian crops, but the war in Ukraine is a major problem, as sowing in the neighbouring country has been delayed. 
However, the average Hungarian consumer will not feel the change for the time being, but over time we can expect prices to rise, and not only for oilseeds.
In addition, production costs have risen a lot recently, which is very bad news for farmers.
Farmers are taking a huge risk by being forced to use increasingly expensive materials, which may not pay off at all.
Unless drastic changes are made, water shortages will cause further problems.
The profitability of production is still far below average, so the best solution would be to introduce an irrigation system similar to the Italian one, but this would require the cooperation of farmers.
There is cooperation between producers in the Mediterranean country, so they share the water between them, each using only what the state allows.
A Hungarian farmer is not willing to do that.
What can we do?
As average people, the solution is to save money where we can.
The pond doesn’t need daily watering and the pool can be cleaned, so you only need to fill it once a summer.
Of course, this has no direct impact on agriculture, but it means that the soil is less likely to dry out, so the sooner we start draining the floodwater, the more likely it is to be distributed evenly.
If every village had a reservoir, it could absorb a lot of rainfall, so there would be much more scope for irrigation.