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Croatia

Agriculture and Horticulture

Agriculture and horticulture in numbers

Europe

Agriculture accounts for only a small part of gross domestic production (GDP) in Europe, and it is considered that the overall vulnerability of the European economy to changes that affect agriculture is low (3). However, agriculture is much more important in terms of area occupied (farmland and forest land cover approximately 90 % of the EU's land surface), and rural population and income (4).

Croatia

In 2003 the total agricultural land in Croatia was 55.6% of the total mainland area. It includes arable land and gardens, orchards, olive-groves, vineyards, meadows and pastures. A large part of this agricultural land is not used due to the landmines: in 2005, 26.39% of agricultural land was suspected to be contaminated by explosives (1). In 2007, utilized agricultural land in Croatia was about 21% of the total mainland area (11).

According to data of 2010, agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing contribute around 7% to GDP, 10% to employment and 13% to merchandise exports in Croatia (12). The share of agricultural in the total population of Croatia dropped from 8.56% in 1991 to 5.54% in 2001 (1).

Only 0.86% of arable land was irrigated in Croatia in 2003. The national irrigation project foresees the construction of irrigation systems on an area totalling 35,000 ha in the period between 2006 and 2010 (1).

Maize and wheat production dominates on approximately 50% of total arable land. Livestock breeding has a share of approximately 44% in the value of agricultural production (11). Industrial crops such as sugar beet, oilseed rape and sunflowers are also important (12).

Vulnerabilities Croatia

Lowland Croatia

In lowland Croatia, the annual number of days with a temperature above 5°C will be higher in 2100 than in 2011 by between 35 and 84 days. ... It can be assumed that the sowing of spring crops will commence at an earlier date and, depending on the possibility of providing sufficient irrigation water, the growing period will last longer. Yields will be constrained by the length of the growing period, the provision of sufficient water for intensified evapotranspiration, and possible crop damage due to early spring frosts and excessively high temperatures in summer. Winter crops will have more favourable conditions for growth and development, thus some increases in yield can be expected. In such conditions, however, considerable problems may occur in terms of weed, disease and pest control (1,12).


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Vulnerabilities Europe - Climate change not main driver

Socio-economic factors and technological developments

Climate change is only one driver among many that will shape agriculture and rural areas in future decades. Socio-economic factors and technological developments will need to be considered alongside agro-climatic changes to determine future trends in the sector (4).


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Adaptation strategies

Adaptation measures in Croatia include (12):

  • New practices and new soil tillage methods that are adapted to the changed climate conditions. These include conservation tillage, no tillage and so-called adaptable soil tillage;
  • The development of new varieties and hybrids suitable for intensive production under abiotic stress conditions;
  • Increased flexibility in crop rotation, with the introduction of new crops and different hybrids or varieties of the same crop in particular production areas;
  • Effective plant protection measures to combat weeds, pests and plant diseases;
  • Fertilisation and the application of soil improvers;
  • Improved drainage and irrigation;
  • Change of timing of sowing and harvesting in different parts of Croatia, based on cardinal temperatures;
  • New areas become favourable for specific types of agricultural production, and at the same time some existing agricultural regions in Croatia will be reduced or lost, primarily because of a shortage of water for irrigation.

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References

The references below are cited in full in a separate map 'References'. Please click here if you are looking for the full references for Croatia.

  1. Republic of Croatia, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction (2006)
  2. Republic of Croatia, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Physical Planning (2001)
  3. EEA (2006), in: EEA, JRC and WHO (2008)
  4. EEA, JRC and WHO (2008)
  5. Rounsevell et al. (2005)
  6. UN (2004), in: Alcamo et al. (2007)
  7. Ewert et al. (2005), in: Alcamo et al. (2007)
  8. Van Meijl et al. (2006), in: Alcamo et al. (2007)
  9. JNCC (2007), in: Anderson (ed.) (2007)
  10. European Commission (2006), in: Anderson (ed.) (2007)
  11. Republic of Croatia, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction (2010)
  12. Mesic (2011)
  13. Baric et al. (2008), in: Mesic (2011)
  14. World Bank Group (2009)

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