The impact of weather conditions on agriculture in Serbia and modalities of anti-hail protection | Uticaj vremenskih uslova na poljoprivredu Srbije i modaliteti protivgradne zaštite

Serbian climate is moderate continental climate with a gradual transition between four seasons, which is increasingly rare case in recent years and which may be due to general climatic changes on Earth. Hail storms, typical for almost all Europe, are particularly common in central and southern European countries such as Serbia, and present serious risk for economy and agriculture, too. Small-scale hail storm presents a threat to vegetable and fruit growers while major hail storms threaten all crops and greenhouse production, and endanger buildings, too, as well as industrial products (cars and other products susceptible to fracture). Fruit growing is the most vital agricultural sector in Serbia. State and producers of fresh fruit and fruit intended for further processing have significant profits from this production. Average annual fruit production in Serbia (in period 2006 to 2009) amounted to 1,284,912 tons. In 2005, average annual loses from weather disasters and hail amounted to 7.3 billion dinars, which is close to 86 million Euros (based on exchange rate from 2005). The range of damages in Serbia is the same as in other European countries. All known techniques of anti hail protection must have a support 0 radar and satellite surveillance which will locate the possible or approaching hail storm in the region covered by surveillance and provide global information about movement and patterns of the clouds over Serbia and region. Special attention was paid to the protection of apple, pear and nectarine orchards from unfavorable weather impact by setting the system of anti-hail nets. Anti-hail nets serve different purposes in agriculture: to protect crops from insects (biological protection), birds, wind, extremely strong solar radiation and hail. This Study provides full technical and economic details that are important for this type of anti-hail protection. In order to create clear and effective action plan, the entire anti-hail protection system must be treated as one entity which will be an object of the SWOT analysis in relation to the current situation, and the action plan arising from this analysis must include all key elements relevant to the system.