Assessing the impacts of agricultural drought (SPI/SPEI) on maize and wheat yields across Hungary

Abstract

This study examined the physical properties of agricultural drought (i.e., intensity, duration, and severity) in Hungary from 1961 to 2010 based on the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). The study analyzed the interaction between drought and crop yield for maize and wheat using standardized yield residual series (SYRS), and the crop-drought resilient factor (CDRF). The results of both SPI and SPEI (-3, -6) showed that the western part of Hungary has significantly more prone to agricultural drought than the eastern part of the country. Drought frequency analysis reveals that the eastern, northern, and central parts of Hungary were the most affected regions. Drought analysis also showed that drought was particularly severe in Hungary during 1970–1973, 1990–1995, 2000–2003, and 2007. The yield of maize was more adversely affected than wheat especially in the western and southern regions of Hungary (1961–2010). In general, maize and wheat yields were severely non-resilient (CDRF < 0.8) in the central and western part of the country. The results suggest that drought events are a threat to the attainment of the second Sustainable Development Goals (SDG-2). Therefore, to ensure food security in Hungary and in other parts of the world, drought resistant crop varieties need to be developed to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on agricultural production.

Tick‐borne encephalitis epidemic in Hungary 1951–2021: The story and lessons learned

“…Climate change is usually associated with changes in tick abundance and appearance of novel TBE foci, for example Alpine regions of Austria (Heinz et al, 2015) and in Finland (Tonteri et al, 2015). In Hungary, we have more and more dry springs and summers, and more hot (35–40°C) summer weeks (Mohammed et al, 2022). Spring (April–May) is the main activity period of I. ricinus , the most abundant (and TBEV‐vector) tick species in Hungary, and most larvae with unmatured cuticulae hatch in July and August.…”

Selection of Optimal Palmer Predictors for Increasing the Predictability of the Danube Discharge: New Findings Based on Information Theory and Partial Wavelet Coherence Analysis

“…Although there are several types of indices that highlight the dry and wet periods [ 19 , 46 , 53 ], in our study, we used only the four Palmer indices, which were of the same type. Therefore, we could conduct a comparison between the influence of factors captured by each of them and the influence of all four indices on the Danube discharge.…”

Meteorological Drought Variability and Its Impact on Wheat Yields across South Africa

“…To showcase the impact of seasonal agrarian drought (SPI-3) on wheat production on a regional scale, the crop drought resilience factor (CR) was computed per province across South Africa. Mohammed et al [ 81 ] define the CR as the ability of the cultivated crop to resist environmental pressures (such as drought) while maintaining its physiological, biochemical, and morphological duties. The CR [ 82 ] was calculated by the following equation: where denotes values of yield in drought production seasons at the provincial level, and represents values of detrended yield in a similar production season.…”

“…The CR [82] was calculated by the following equation: To showcase the impact of seasonal agrarian drought (SPI−3) on wheat production on a regional scale, the crop drought resilience factor (CR) was computed per province across South Africa. Mohammed et al [81] define the CR as the ability of the cultivated crop to resist environmental pressures (such as drought) while maintaining its physiological, biochemical, and morphological duties. The CR [82] was calculated by the following equation:…”