Monitoring Agricultural Drought in Poland - Monitoring and Predicting Agricultural Drought: A Global Study - page 171

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M onitoring Agricultural Drought in Poland
Z BIGNIEW BOCHENEK, KATARZYNA

D ABROWSKA-ZIELINSKA, ANDRZEJ CIOLKOSZ,

ST ANISLAW DRUPKA, AND VIJENDRA K. BOKEN

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PgEn

Poland is situated in the Great European Plain between the Baltic Sea
and the Carpathian and Sudety mountains. Its territory includes lowlands
(91.3%), highlands (7.7%), and mountains (1%). Most of Poland's soils
are light soils of podsolic origin, which are usually of poor quality. It is
for this reason that only 25% of the agricultural land, which accounts
for 60% of the total territory and engages about 12% of population, is
used for producing wheat, barley, sugar beets, rape seed, and vegetables.
Average yields of main crops in Poland are lower than in the majority of
West European countries. But the higher harvest areas put Poland sixth in
Europe in the production of wheat, second in the production of rye and
potatoes, and fourth in the production of sugar beet. The variation in the
production of these crops during 1990-2000 is shown in figure 13.1.
Private farms cover about 84% of the total agricultural land. About
55% of the farms have an individual area < 2 ha. Liquidation of state farms
and substantial reduction in the number of cooperative and collective farms
have impacted the size of individual farms and increased their importance
in agricultural production and Polish export. Since 1980, the average area
of individual farms increased from 6.5 to 7.8 ha.
Poland is located in the region where precipitation exceeds transpira-
tion. But since the 1960s, annual rainfall has gradually decreased by about
70 mm (Slota et al., 1992). Due to the shortage of precipitation, high tem-
perature fluctuations in the spring, and cool weather during summertime,
yields of the main crops have decreased and drought frequency has in-
creased, particularly during the last decade (figure 13.2).

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Sp atial Distribution of Droughts and Their Causes

Drought usually begins in western Poland, moves through the central part,
and eventually reaches eastern side (between 51°N and 54°N), which is

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