Impact of Climate Change on Crop Land and Technological Recommendations for the Main Crops in Transylvanian Plain, Romania

Abstract

The Transylvanian Plain (TP) is an important agricultural production area of Romania that is included among the areas with the lowest potential of adapting to climate changes in Europe. Thermal and hydric regime monitoring is necessary to identify and implement measures of adaptation to the impacts of climate change. Soil moisture and temperature regimes were evaluated using a set of 20 data logging stations positioned throughout the plain. Each station stores electronic data regarding ground temperature at 3 depths (10, 30, 50 cm), humidity at a depth of 10 cm, air temperature (at 1 m) and precipitation. For agricultural crops, the periods of drought and extreme temperatures require specific measures of adaptation to climate changes. During the growing season of crops in the spring (April - October) in the southeastern, southern, and eastern escarpments, precipitation decreased by 43.8 mm, the air temperature increased by 0.37°C, and the ground temperature increased by 1.91°C at a depth of 10 cm, 2.22°C at a depth of 20 cm and 2.43°C at a depth of 30 cm compared with values recorded for the northern, northwestern or western escarpments. Water requirements were ensured within an optimal time frame for 58.8-62.1% of the spring row crop growth period, with irrigation being necessary to guarantee the optimum production potential. The biologically active temperature recorded in the TP demonstrates the need to renew the division of the crop areas reported in the literature.