IDŐJÁRÁS
Quarterly Journal of the Hungarian Meteorological Service
Vol. 107, No. 3–4, July–December 2003, pp. 237–248
The impacts of the increasing drought frequency
on the agricultural water management
Péter Köles1, Emánuel Antal2 and Judit Dimény1
1
Department of Water Management and Land Reclamation,
Faculty of Agriculture and Environment Sciences, Szent István University,
Páter Károly u. 1, H-2103 Gödöllő, Hungary
2
Hungarian Meteorological Service, P.O. Box 39, H-1675 Budapest, Hungary
E-mail: antal.e@met.hu
(Manuscript received October 28, 2003; in final form November 17, 2003)
Abstract—The high risk of drought in Hungary can be illustrated by the high crop failure in
the year 2000 when compared to the average crop of the past years. The crop failure of grain
and industrial plant species varied between 15–40%. About 1.3 million hectares of arable
land were affected by drought.
Increase in the frequency, length, and intensity of drought is more likely during the
warming periods. The series of droughts in the past decades may be explained as a sign of
global warming. The studies have shown that a small degree (+0.5 and +1C) of global
warming can cause significant climate change in Hungary. There will be a marked increase in
summer temperature and a decrease in annual precipitation of about 10% (60 mm). Increase
in sunshine hours can also be expected, and the length of periods with low relative humidity
will probably grow, too. The drier air is accompanied with increasing potential
evapotranspiration, that results in increasing transpiration intensity. Therefore, it is to be
expected that the water demand of crops will increase.
As a result of global warming, the more frequent occurrence of drought will be an
important challenge of the Hungarian society and economy during the following decades.
That is why it is urgent to make efforts towards the development of a national drought
strategy, that will coordinate and maximize the effectiveness of the work of all Ministries
involved.
In this paper the authors present a survey of the drought situation in Hungary, and outline
the most urgent tasks for reducing its harmful effects for the country.
Key-words: drought, drought frequency, drought strategy, climate change, irrigation water
requirement.