Cultivation of Rice and Biodiversity in
Axios Delta, North Greece
Dr. SteliosTamvakidis
Biosystem Engineer, MSc, PhD
Decentralised Administration of Macedonia Thrace
Directorate of Agricultural Affairs
tamvakidis@mail.com
Dr. Pantazis E. Georgiou, Assistant Professor
Faculty of Agriculture
Laboratory of General and Agricultural Hydraulics and Land Reclamation
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GREECE
pantaz@agro.auth.gr
Serres
Kavala
Thessaloniki
16%
8%
58%
Main areas of rice cultivation in Greece
The importance to conserve this area
has been recognised since the early
1970s, when it was designated as a
Ramsar site. Currently, the area
encompasses three Natura 2000 sites
(two “Sites of Community Interest
(SCIs)” under the Habitats Directive
and one “Specially Protected Area
(SPA)” under the Birds Directive).
Image of the Rivers Part and
the Alyki Kitros part
• The Axios river
catchment
• The Axios River basin is
located in the central
Balkan Peninsula and it
drains 80% of the Former
Yugoslavian Republic of
Macedonia
(FYROM),
parts of Bulgaria and
Greece.
• Greece occupies the delta
area.
• The catchment covers an
area of approximately
25.000 km2 .
•It hosts a population within the entire Thermaikos Gulf
catchment, that is estimated, according to most recent census
data, at 3.300.000 inhabitants.
•The climate varies between continental to the northern part of
the catchment and mediterranean towards the coastal zone.
City of Thessaloniki from Axios Delta
 Over the past decades, the river has suffered numerous human
interventions.
 In the beginning of the 20th century the river mouth was located a
few kilometers SW of Thessaloniki, threatening the access to the
port, as a result of continuous siltation.
 The river was deviated artificially to the area where it discharges
today.
 The constructions commenced in 1930 and lasted for four (4)
years.
 Since then, the river propagated rapidly building an extensive
deltaic plain.
 However, recent observations have demonstrated that erosional
processes has prevailed over the past thirty (30) years.
Satellite Image of the Rivers Part clearly showing rice fields
• The wetlands of the Thessaloniki plain, where the Axios delta is
located, provide a characteristic example of wetland destruction in
Greece.
• While in 1917 36% of the plain were wetlands, today this area
amounts only to 5.5%.
• The main environmental pressures, which affected negatively the
delta’s area ecological character, leading to the destruction of 70% of
the original wetlands during the 20th century, are numerous:
* water discharge decrease
* drainage works
* urbanization
• Pollution
• Moreover the general decrease in rainfall, combined with over-use of
water for irrigation, has resulted in severe salinization of the delta
area, with a direct impact on the flora and fauna of the wetlands.
• Nowadays some of these activities have been stopped and their
impacts have already been mitigated.
Axios Delta
There is no direct control by any state agency for the maximum allowed quantity
of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides used in the rice cultivation.
Usage of toxic pesticides, can have direct impact in the local wild flora and fauna
especially in the rice fields, which are a usual habitat for wildfowl.
Concerning the water pricing for irrigation, the pricing strategy of the Local
Organization of Land Reclamation (LOLR), responsible for the irrigation, does not
reflect the full cost of the resource, but intends to cover only running expenses.
The pricing policy is based on the average estimated price per hectare that each
LORL has set for irrigation.
Gallikos Estuaries
During the last 20 years, a considerable growth in shellfish
(mussel) production appeared in the Axios river coastal
area.
Today more than 44 pole cultures and 229 long-line cultures
occupy the marine area between the Axios River mouth to
the NE (Chalastra area), whereas 37 pole and 120 pole
cultures are situated to the SW of the Axios river mouth,
covering a narrow zone of ~6 km.
Shellfish production in the area reaches 85% of the total
Greek production,.
It increased rapidly since the 1990s to more than 30.000
tones per year, whereas 70-80% of the product is exported.
The value of the production amounts to more than 10 million €
annually, and about 1.000 people are employed in the units.
Recently, the production has been considerably affected due to
the occurrence of harmful algae blooms (HABs), which
sometimes results to the accumulation of toxins in shellfish,
being dangerous or even lethal for consumers.
Mussel producers’ huts in Axios coastal zone
 Ninety (90%) percent of the cultivated rice area is characterized by
pathogenic soils with high salinity.
 Therefore, leaching the soil salts, especially at the first stages of
the rice plants, and also application of acid fertilizers is absolutely
necessary.
 An ideal system of rotation is very difficult to be applied because of
very high salinity.
 In addition there is a significant area (80%) where a 3-year rotation
(rice and one year corn, sugar beets and cotton) is applied.
The aim of rational irrigation is to supply the crop rooting with the
necessary water to meet the water needs of spring crops, while
achieving a lower loss of water application in the field.
In Greece the spring crop water needs can not be filled by summer
rains combined with the quantities of soil water stored in the root zone
and water is a high phreatic aquifers due to capillary rise contributes to
meeting the needs of individual crops
For this reason, the application of irrigation for spring crops is essential.
Noted that a substantial increase in agricultural production in Greece
occurred after 1959 and coincides with the start of construction of
collective irrigation networks.
In 1998 the total irrigated area was over 12 million stremmas and is
now approaching 16 million stremmas.
*** 1stremma = 1.000 m2
or
1ha = 10 stremmas
 In May (first month of the
irrigation season) water
losses occur due mainly to
rice growing. Significant
amounts of water are not
lost, but used to fill the
basin before sowing rice.
 During June, July and
August, which are the peak
demand for water in
irrigation period, the losses
are smaller.
 In September (last month of
the
irrigation
season)
losses are high, since
LOLR’s
discharging of
water above the crop needs
water at the end of the
growing season.
Schematic representation of the water
balance
The water balance in flooded water of rice fields is described by a general
equation in which the sum of inflow is balanced with the sum of outflow and
the change in water storage of flooded pond for a time period. The form of
this equation is:
dV/dt = Ro + GWi - Rro - Rinf + A(R-E)
where:
V is the volume of ponded water (m3),
A is the surface area (m2),
R is the rainfall (m d-1),
Ε is the evaporation from the free water surface (m d-1),
Ro is the inflow from the irrigation network (m3d-1),
Rinf is the infiltration (m3d-1),
GWi is the inflow from groundwater,
Rro is the surface runoff (m3d-1).
The term dV/dt describes the change in the pond water storage.
 The flooded water on the rice field is infiltrated in the soil.
 The infiltrated water in the soil moves horizontally to the ditches. The
drainage discharge to the ditches is evaluated as a problem of water
movement to drains.
 Crop evapotranspiration computed with reference evapotranspiration
and crop coefficients.
 The irrigation practice in the area showed that high water amounts were
used.
 An important part of applied water (70 to 76 %) lost with surface runoff
and contributed to groundwater percolation.
The water balance illustrated that
the common irrigation practice, should
minimize the use of irrigation
water in the area.
In the frame of best
water management, a
program of reduction of
water use is needed.
Significant part of the
total water applied in
the field at the last part of
growing period.
General view of rice paddies in Axios
The irrigation efficiency in open channels’ networks is generally
low.
A significant part of the applied water is the return flow to drainage
system. It creates very serious environmental impacts such as:

waterlogging,

salinity and

nutrients enrichment of the receiving water bodies (surface
and subsurface).
The degree of this irrigation-induced pollution depends
on:
 hydrogeological characteristics,
 the irrigation methods and practice,
 the land use and crop distribution and
 the water supply and drainage system
Applying fertilezers to paddy rice fields
Environmental problems on the wetland of Axios River delta are
related with farming practices, especially fertilization and irrigation
and the most important are:
the salinization
of water in the
drainage
network
the waterlogging
downstream which leads to
pumping a huge amount of
water in order to prevent
the waterlogging of soils
the nutrient
losses from the
irrigated area, that
influence the
eutrophication
processes of the
Thermaikos Gulf, in
northern Aegean
Sea.
Members
Drying
Facilities
Capacity (ton)
Agricultural
cooperative
A
Agricultural
cooperative B
560
500
3
3
40.000
42.000
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Financial indexes for Rice Production (€/str)
Seeds
Fertilizers
Pesticides
Harvesting
Irrigation fee to Irrigation Board
Man hours (hours/str)
1.
2.
Gravity irrigation method
Pumping and flooding irrigation method
18,84
15,83
9,31
22,60
16,14
man
mechan
11
20
5,5
13
Yield (kg/str)
800
Price (€/Kg)
0,2
State & EU subsidy (€/str)
104,18
Labor indexes for Rice Production
(Hours/str)
1. Field Preparation
4,4
2. Sowing
0,3
3. Fertilizers
0,1
4. Pesticides
0,2
5. Irrigation
7,5
6. Harvesting
0,5
7. Commodity transfer
0,2
Total
13,2
Water footprint of national rice production
(period 2000-04)
Birds
More than 270 bird species find shelter in the
wetland, many of them rare and threatened.
Avocets, Glossy ibises, Black - headed gulls,
Dalmatian pelicans, are some of the beauties living
here, whilst the riparian forest of Axios hosts one of
the most important mixed heron colonies in Greece.
The area lies under one of the basic migratory
routes of Europe, so thousands of birds stop over for
some days in order to rest and feed up, before
continuing their journey.
animals
Beside birds, the area of the Axios, Loudias and
Aliakmonas estuaries is a valuable habitat for many
other animal species, some of which are under threat
of extinction, such as the European ground squirrel,
the European otter and the Hermann’s tortoise. In the
fields and in the islets of the Axios river lives a herd of
wild horses, descendants of the animals once used by
the farmers for agricultural work. In the Gallikos
estuaries one can see an impressive stock of water
buffalos, that enjoy spending most of their time in the
water.
and plants
In total there are more than 500 species and
subspecies of plants, some of which change
colors during the year, producing a diverse
scenery. Some species are rare, such as the
Sea daffodil, while others are very common,
such as the glasswort, which, in Autumn turns
red and adorns the marshlands of the coastal
zone to a colorful carpet.
Dalmatian pelican by salicornia vegetation
Contributing factors (indirect threats and
opportunities)
Insufficient law enforcement allows the discharge of untreated or
inadequately treated industrial and urban sewage to the River and other
freshwater ecosystems. Furthermore weak law enforcement enhances illegal
activities such as garbage dumping, poaching and improperly conducted or
illegal sand extraction.
Weak or absent policies, in particular those related to land use planning,
result in poor
implementation of the EU-Water Framework Directive,
unumberegulated grazing, illegal construction of buildings, intense hunting and
waste mismanagement. In addition, low water prices facilitate wasteful
irrigation practices. The excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides in the
Protected Area and upstream of the rivers are caused by a wide set of factors.
Pygmy cormorant
Inadequate action by the Axios Authority due to the lack of capacity, funding
and mandate, is not helping to avoid ongoing construction of buildings in the
area, improperly conducted and illegal sand extraction, landfill with
construction waste and overgrazing.
Lack of awareness and knowledge of locals, farmers and other stakeholder
groups related to the values of the protected area and to the responsibilities
and opportunities for primary producers, leads ecologically damaging
farming practices, overgrazing, landfill, garbage dumping and
hunting/poaching.
Low sense of responsibility of local people to take care of the area, the low
accountability of municipality leaders and the fact that waste management
ranks low on the political agenda is leading to a heavily devaluated
landscape with garbage and waste lying around.
Mentality issues regarding the illegal construction of buildings, in
combination with infrastructural requirements of livestock husbandry,
fishermen and aquaculture people, the lack of law enforcement and the
demand for commercial development along the national road and unclear
legislation is leading to landscape degradation and habitat loss.
Dragon fly
The strategies are:
 Ensuring ecological improvement of agricultural
practices (AP)
 Effective implementation of the Water Framework
Directive (WFD)
 Supporting land use planning for sustainable grazing
(GR)
 Kalohori lagoon restoration and improvement (KL)
 Integration and application of land use planning (LU)
 Reducing hunting pressure and poaching (HU)
 A garbage campaign (GB)
 Sustainable sand extraction management (SEM)
Observatory in Gallikos estuaries
It is assumed that if people value the Axios Delta, that they will
then respect the management rules and collaborate in conserving
the area.
The strategy specifically aims to:
 Raise awareness of general public on values of the Natural Park
 Improve visitor information about the National Park & Infrastructure
 Use the National Park for the education of schoolchildren (biology
lab)
 Raise awareness of general public and politicians on the
ecosystem services
(water purification, groundwater recharge) and goods (drinking water,
water for irrigation, rice, mussels, fish) that the National Park
provides.
Attract visitors from the Thessaloniki area and Greek and European
tourists
Bird watching
day
Thank you
for your attention