SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation - 1.5. Water-conscious planting - Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences
SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation
SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation - 1.5. Water-conscious planting
Last modified: 09. November 2024
1.5. Water-conscious planting
As an agriculture-focused university, MATE is constantly working on how it can initiate and implement research that will enhance environment-conscious thinking, lifestyle and economic activity. As a result of climate change, the drought of recent years has posed a major challenge for agriculture, including water management and irrigation. Our university has a research centre and is continuously working on several projects to address these, including plant landscapes to minimise water usage. (e.g. use drought-tolerant plants).
Research Centre for Irrigation and Water Management (ÖVKI) in Szarvas
The Research Center for Irrigation and Water Management (ÖVKI) focuses on three strategic research areas: agricultural water management, irrigation management, and rice research.
In agricultural water management, they are working on the adaptation techniques to extreme hydrological events (excess water, drought) caused by climate change and on the development of excess water management (assessment of excess water hazard and alternative land use by GIS-based mapping). They are also operating remote sensing techniques (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) for surveying agricultural areas (e.g., describing the hydrological status of the soil-water-plant system).
Their mission in irrigation management and rice research is to improve the Hungarian irrigation management practice, contribute to the expansion of irrigated areas, and breed abiotic stress-tolerant rice genotypes for conventional, organic, and aerobic cultivation.
They promote the water-saving and environment-friendly irrigation technologies (e.g., lysimeter studies to measure water use and nutrient uptake of crops and energy plants; irrigation scheduling; modern sensor systems; reuse of agricultural effluents for irrigation; agroforestry system development; adaptation of up-to-date irrigation methods).
MATE ÖVKI is the centre of Hungarian rice research and breeding. We are working on the breeding of new, high-yielding varieties with good quality and tolerance to temperate climatic conditions (low temperature, short duration, long day length). Besides conventional breeding, we integrate biotechnological methods into traditional breeding (DH-lines via androgenesis – isolated microspore culture) in cooperation with the Cereal Research Non-profit Co., Szeged. They are maintaining a rice gene bank of Hungarian and international varieties to support breeding and rice research at the University and other Hungarian institutes.
They also operate a Demonstration and Training Center for Irrigation Management with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture to develop the efficiency and the area of the Hungarian irrigation sector.
To achieve their goals, they are open to cooperation on national and international levels (joint research projects, development programs, extension and breeding projects). Among others, they have active collaboration in the Philippines, Chile, Laos and Thailand.
The main infrastructures for research, development, education and extension are the MATE ÖVKI Rice Research Station, MATE ÖVKI Lysimeter Station, MATE ÖVKI Irrigation Research Station, and the Radiological Research Station. They are closely cooperating with other Institute of Environmental Sciences (KÖTI) Departments and MATE Institutes in Szarvas and other Campuses.
Research on soil-plant-water-atmosphere systems under field conditions (irrigation, nutrient management, breeding)
One of the projects is the research on soil-plant-water-atmosphere systems under field conditions (irrigation, nutrient management, breeding) realized by the MATE ÖVKI Lysimeter Station. Knowledge of soil water and nutrient cycling, accurate determination of water use and water requirements of crops, analysis of the efficiency of different irrigation methods and practices are fundamental to the effectiveness of environmentally conscious economic decisions. MATE KÖTI ÖVKI's Lysimeter Station (320+8 lysimeters) and the associated state-of-the-art instrumentation background also allow the testing and development of innovative methods and products.
Preparing for water-saving farming - a workshop held by The Maize Circle Association in October 2022 in Gödöllő.
In the year 2022, the spring drought was followed by a severe summer drought, which sealed the fate of the maize harvest. The Maize Circle Association sought to find answers on the day to what cereal growers can do to end the year with a better average yield in a similar drought year and how they can prepare for the challenges of climate change. They also sought solutions to problems with the involvement of experts, providing relevant and useful information and forward-looking practical solutions for arable crop farmers.
űOne of the experts presented the situation of irrigation in Hungary, its anomalies and the causes of the problems, and participants then discussed the problems of crop production caused by the changed climate in Hungary and the possibilities of its elimination. They stressed the importance and the necessity of modern irrigation solutions that take into account soil characteristics and their control and regulation solutions. The audience was also given an insight into some of the remarkable results of irrigation experiments in the Szarvas region.
Another expert said that among the expected local effects of global warming, changes in the amount and distribution of precipitation have already been observed in the recent past. The precipitation deficits of recent years, especially in the summers of 2021 and 2022, have resulted in drought with a much larger than usual spatial impact in Europe and Hungary. The presentation also looked at past, present and expected future precipitation patterns, which can help agricultural professionals to prepare for the problems caused by water scarcity. The expert also presented an irrigation time forecasting method for maize, which allows water-saving irrigation by monitoring a stress index based on the detection of plant temperature.
In general our Campuses are supplied with drinking water from the public drinking water supply network, and the Central Campus in Kaposvár has its own well and hydroglobe as well. In the Wildlife Centre (Vadgazdálkodási Központ), animals are also partly watered by their own wells. A borehole is also available at Iregszemcse and at the horticultural centre of the Training and Experimental Station (Tan- és Kísérleti Üzem), but is not in operation. The quality of drinking water from the wells is regularly monitored. The water is drawn from the wells on the basis of a water permit issued by the Baranya County Directorate for Water and Water Protection (Baranya Megyei Katasztrófavédelmi Igazgatóság Vízügyi és Vízvédelmi Hatóság: http://www.baranya.hu/dokumentum/1709). The validity of the permits is monitored by the Environmental Protection Officer. (In: Environmental Instructions - Környezetvédelmi Utasítás, Kaposvári Campus, p. 14)
