INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUNFLOWER YIELD AND CLIMATE VARIABLES IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

Abstract

Current climate change exerts a substantial influence on the world economy, the agricultural sector being the most vulnerable. Although the species Helianthus annuus L. is considered drought-tolerant, in the critical phases of growth and development it is quite susceptible to soil water deficiency. Understanding the relationship between climate and the dynamics of agricultural production is a key element in developing appropriate adaptation and risk mitigation strategies. This paper focused on elucidating the interrelationship between the climate parameter variables and the sunflower yield at the level of administrative-territorial units in the Republic of Moldova, during the period of 2003-2021. Based on the statistical analysis of the data, the trends of crop yield evolution in the context of current climate conditions, some correlations between climatic variables (temperature during the growing season, amount of precipitation in the cold and growing seasons) and crop yield, as well as the contribution of the investigated environmental factors in crop yield variation were revealed.

Keywords

• sunflower
• yield
• climate variables
• correlations
• climate changes