Teodor RUSU¹, Camelia Liliana COSTE¹, Paula Ioana MORARU¹, Lech Wojciech SZAJDAK², Adrian Ioan POP¹ & Bogdan Matei DUDA^1,3
1University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 3-5, Manastur Street, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, E-mail: rusuteodor23@yahoo.com
²Institute for Agricultural and Forest Environment, Polish Academy of Sciences, 19, Bukowska Street, 60-809, Poznań, Poland, E-mail: lech.szajdak@isrl.poznan.pl
³Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA, E-mail: Bogdan.duda@ttu.edu

IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AGRO-CLIMATIC INDICATORS AND AGRICULTURAL LANDS IN THE TRANSYLVANIAN PLAIN BETWEEN 2008-2014

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Integrated conservation and management of agricultural areas affected by the current global warming represents a priority at international level following the implementation of the principles of sustainable agriculture and adaptation measures. Transylvanian Plain (TP), with an area of 395,616 ha is of great agricultural importance for Romania, but with an afforestation degree of only 6.8% and numerous degradation phenomena of farmland, it has the lowest degree of sustainability to climate change. Monitoring of agro-climatic indicators and their evolution in between 2008-2014 and the analysis of the obtained data underlie the technological development of recommendations tailored to current favorable conditions for the main crops. Results obtained show that: the thermal regime of the soils in TP is of mesic type and the hydric regime is ustic; multiannual average of temperature in soil at 10 cm depth is 11.40ºC, respectively at 50 cm depth is 10.24ºC; the average yearly air temperature is 11.17ºC; multiannual average of soil moisture is 0.227 m³/m³; Multiannual average value of precipitation is 466.52 mm. During the studied period, compared with data series available (1961-1990; 1901-2000), clear decrease of the average quantities of rainfall especially during critical periods for crops, and increases in average temperatures for the entire year can be noticed. Between June and August the highest temperature difference were recorded, differences of +3.09°C to +3.65°C. There is an increase phenomenon of drought and heat; determined indicators show that most values, 61.11%, are commensurate with a semiarid climate. Aggression peaks are in February-April, July, and October-November, and for the whole period, in 19.43% of the cases are favorable and very favorable conditions for triggering erosion. Recommended agro-technical measures to limit and counteract the effects of drought, as a climatic phenomenon with major risk to agriculture in TP, refer to: i) use of a biological material resistant to water stress and heat; ii) use of management practices favorable for accumulation of, conservation and the efficient use of water from rainfall; iii) operating a system of conservation agriculture based on soil protection and desertification avoidance.