The Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (RZS) announced today that a total of 70.429 million cubic meters of water were used for irrigation in 2023, which is 29.1% less than in the previous year.
The majority of the water, as stated, was extracted from watercourses (93.5%), while the remaining quantities were taken from groundwater, lakes, reservoirs, and the water supply network.
The most common type of irrigation was by sprinkling, accounting for 91% of the irrigated area, followed by drip irrigation (8.7% of the area), while surface irrigation covered only 0.3% of the area.
RZS also notes that in 2023, 47,579 hectares of agricultural land were irrigated in Serbia, which is 12.9% less than in the previous year. It is mentioned that fields and gardens had the largest share in the total irrigated areas (93.4%), followed by orchards (six percent), and other agricultural areas (0.6%).
RZS emphasizes that the research on irrigation covers businesses and agricultural cooperatives engaged in agricultural production and services or managing irrigation systems.
It is also mentioned that since 1999, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia does not have certain data for the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, so they are not included in the data coverage for Serbia as a whole.
