Advancing irrigation development in the European Union

Large-scale irrigation systems (LIS) are massively utilized in agriculture worldwide to ensure food security and mitigate the effect of global warming. LIS face unpredictable changes in climate, technologies, and societal tendencies during their lifetime, potentially becoming unusable or insufficient. In this case study of Slovenia, the evolution of LIS was divided into five characteristic periods in terms of motivation, mechanisms, and the key stakeholders. The heyday of LIS development in the late 1980s was followed by denationalization and privatization, and construction was replaced by measures for improving the status irrigation at the state level. Simultaneously, there was a shift in global development towards modernization as LIS should be adaptive to changes throughout their existence in order to preserve their functionality. The construction of LIS resumed less intensively in the European Union during 2007-2013, with recognition of effective LIS functioning as necessity. This study confirms that irrigation development follows the global imperative focus on more effective use of the existing LIS along with simultaneous reduction in the environmental impact of agricultural production through smarter use of water, nutrients, and plant protection products. This should be achieved by organized LIS users, increased knowledge, efficient LIS maintenance and management, and improved connections to the local markets.