Parameterization of drought vulnerability assessment in agriculture

The aim of the present study has been an attempt at the assessment of agricultural drought vulnerability. The paper presents the proposal of the methodology and the preliminary results. The assessment is performed for the voivodships and the regions in Poland and takes into account two factors: the crop water deficit in the growing season and the share of light and very light soil area in the overall arable soil area. The vulnerability is evaluated for five crops with the largest area of cultivation in Poland. A differentiation of vulnerability to drought between crops and a spatial differentiation for each crop are determined. A spatial differentiation is similar for all crops. The most vulnerable region is the central and central-western part of Poland. The results indicate that late potato is the most vulnerable crop to be damaged by drought among all studied crops, whereas winter rape is the least vulnerable crop.