The Influence of Temperature, Precipitation, Irrigation and Varieties on Seed Production in Romania, Brăila County

Abstract:

The production and the area cultivated with wheat have evolved significantly lately, against the increase in the global consumption due to both the demographic evolution and the superior nutritional characteristics of the products obtained by processing this cereal. Romania is one of the main wheat producers both in Europe and in the world, the increase in the national production being based in the last years mainly on the better use of agricultural technologies and on the increase of productivity. Although important advances have been made in the Romanian agriculture, the cultivation of the high yielding wheat varieties may be affected by climate change, the abiotic stress, drought and heat being the main threats that the Romanian farmers have to face. The production of high quality wheat seeds is an important objective for farmers in Romania, the area allocated to seed lots having an increasing share in the total agricultural area cultivated at the national level. The research carried out has as its main objectives the analysis of drought control measures based mainly on the use of modern irrigation systems and their implications in the production of wheat at the national level. The paper presents the evolution of the irrigated areas at the national level during the period 2010-2017 and the effects of irrigations on the cultivation of wheat varieties, with special attention given to the Bărăgan Plain, one of the main agricultural areas specialised in the production of cereals. In the conditions of the climate change, we investigated and interpreted the evolution of the annual average temperatures, the level of precipitation and their impact on irrigated areas, as well as the main wheat genotypes common in the agricultural crops. The results of the research have shown that the variety of wheat that best adapted to the current cultivation conditions was the Glosa variety.