©Department of Geography. Valahia University of Targoviste Annals of Valahia University of Targoviste. Geographical Series Tome 15/2015 Issues 2: 77-84 http://fsu.valahia.ro/images/avutgs/home.html

DYNAMICS OF LAND USE CHANGES IN DĂBULENI PLAIN (SOUTHWESTERN )

Daniel SIMULESCU1, Andreea ZAMFIR2 1Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy, Dimitrie Racoviţă street, no. 12, Bucharest, Romania Phone: +40 213135990, E-mail: [email protected] 2 Drăgoteşti Secondary School, Nicolae Iorga street, no. 3, Dolj, Romania

Abstract Dăbuleni Plain is a subunit of southern Romanaţi Plain and it spreads on nearly 400 s.q km. The unique aspect of the terrain is given by the presence of the dunes and interdunes of variable forms and sizes which are oriented from west towards east as a consequence of the winds. Dăbuleni dunes field consists of alternating layers of sand, gravel, loess and loess material, and overlaps the five Danube terraces located in this sector, which are interconnected with Jiu terraces.Dăbuleni Plain landscape is highly anthropic, prevailing the rural settlements, some of them being very large in size due to the increasing of the importance of the agricultural sector. The building of Sadova- irrigation system as well as the results obtained by the research conducted by the Research - Development Center for Field Crops on Sandy Soils were factors in favor of extending arable land and land occupied by orchards and nurseries, vineyards and vine nurseries. The present study aims to analyze the dynamic of the land use in the Dăbuleni Plain over the last 30 years, spanning both, the socialist and the capitalist era. Also, favorable and restrictive factors of agricultural development, in the study area, were analyzed as well as the current situation.

Keywords: land use/cover changes, Dăbuleni Plain, dunes, sandy soils

1. INTRODUCTION

In literature, Dăbuleni Plain was investigated as a part of a major unit whose subunit is, i.e. Plain. One of the first thorough examination of this unit has been published by Balea Ionescu (1923), and is the first characterization of evolution, morphology and composition of the sands of southern Oltenia Plain. Subsequently there are a number of studies that present new data on the geologic formation and evolution of Oltenia Plain (Liteanu & Bandrabur, 1958; Bandrabur, 1971), geomorphological features (Coteţ, 1957), pedology (Chiriţă & Bălănică, 1939) and agricultural aspects (Baniţă, 1981; Lucrări ştiinţifice ale SCDCPN Dăbuleni, 1989). The emergence of a very complex treaties of Geography (Geografia văii Dunării româneşti, 1969; Geografia României – vol. V, 2005), led to a highly detailed analysis of Dăbuleni Plain and presented all the environmental elements (geology, lithology, relief, climate, hydrography, vegetation, fauna, soils), and elements of population and economic activities in the studied area. Recent researches regarded the changing landscapes and the developments in the use of land (Dumitraşcu, 2006), the expansion of drought and dryness (Vlăduţ, 2010; Dragotă, 2011), but also assessment of any changes over time within the surfaces covered with forests (Dumitraşcu, 2014).

77 Study area

Over time land surface changes were caused by two types of factors: natural factors and human activities. At the same time as the development of industry and especially of the agriculture, human activities have become the main factors that have changed the cover and land use, this phenomenon making its presence felt in full in Dăbuleni Plain. This is a subunit of the Romanaţi Plain and is bounded to the north by Leu-Rotunda field. The boundry between the two fields is marked out by the following localities: Sadova-Damian- Ocolna-Stăvaru--Vădastra. Danube floodplain marks the south limit, which crosses the subsequent villages: Ostroveni-Bechet-Calaraşi-Potelu---Orlea-Celei (west of Corabia). To the east, Caracal Plain edges Dăbuleni Plain along the localities: Vădastra-Vişina- Vârtop-Celei (west of Corabia). Its western boundry is given by the Jiu’s floodplain, following the alignment: Sadova-Piscu Sadovei-Lişteava- Ostroveni (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. Dăbuleni Plain – Hipsometry and administrative units Romania

Located on the connected Danube and Jiu terraces, with altitudes ranging from 8 to119 m, Dăbuleni Plain is a terraces plain covered with sands and gravels in alternation with loess and loess material, whose foundation is a Levantine age material, composed of clays and clays with marl (Coteţ, 1957). The main types of soils encountered are psamosoils and psamic-cambic chernozems. Endoreic character of the area is completed by the arid climate (Vlăduţ, 2007), with average temperatures of 11,7°C and multiannual rainfall of 477,3 mm (measured data were provided by the Oltenia Regional Meteorological Center and SCDCPN Dăbuleni). Research conducted on sandy soils in southern Oltenia since 1959, at the Experimental Center Bechet, transformed later in Dăbuleni Research Station, and those made in other areas with sandy soils, in the country (Tâmbureşti, Mârşani, Hanu Conachi or Valea lui Mihai) and abroad, have shown that by improving these soils, which involves rational directing of a complex of agricultural and pedological improvements (agropedoameliorative works), agrophytotechnical and hydro works, rigorously scientifically and well applied in agricultural practice can obtain yields with very good results on this land poor in organic materials. Thus, the use of the land has undergone many changes and transformations through the agropedoameliorative measures applied, and thanks to the construction of the irrigation system (which entered into service in 1974) and agricultural development.

78 2. DATAS AND METHODS

In oder to achive this study on the land use evolution, we’ve used statistical data taken from Regional Directorates of Statistics Dolj and Olt, for a number of 13 localities: Sadova, Ostroveni, Bechet, Călăraşi, Dăbuleni, Ştefan cel Mare, Ianca, Urzica, Vădăstriţa, Grojdibodu, Orlea, Gura Padinii and Corabia, administrative units that are part of Dăbuleni Plain. Based on these statistics, it is possible to calculate a series of indices of human pressure through different types of land use, landscape naturality index, environmental change index (Dumitraşcu, 2006; Ionuş, 2011; Zarea 2012), but also a dynamic analysis and land use changes over time (Popovici, 2010), could be made. For a better understanding of the temporal dynamic of the phenomenon, in the studied area, were chosen four representative years: 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2014. The data were processed at an administrative teritorial unit level (LAU2), using ArcGIS 9.3 software, and we’ve obtained different maps, that shows land use shares, covering the following categories: arable land, orchards and fruit tree nurseries, vineyards and vine nurseries, pastures and meadows. These maps were then analyzed and interpreted. In order to determine the share of land allocated to each land use type (S), we used the following mathematical formula:

The base maps used in this study were topographic maps of the studied area, at scale 1: 25.000 .

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Dăbuleni Plain is characterized by a landscape of dunes, sandy soils, poor in organic matter and dry, less productive in natural conditions. Excessive human intervention through the expansion of agriculture was characterized by a series of hydro and land improvement works carried out over time. Their subsequent abandonment and destruction of the protective forests belts, affected the natural balance by modifying the structure, the processes and the evolutionary rhythm, by substituting the natural landscape with a strong anthropic one, resulting a landscape in a rhexistazic state. Therefore, it has been exceeded the landscape capacity to self-adjust, and the return to its initial state can be achieved only with enormous costs (Dumitraşcu, 2006). The destruction of forest belts, who once protected the field, led to the reactivation of deflation, causing the expansion of the area occupied by sand, having a severe impact on crops and housing quality in this space. The main mode of land use in the study area represents arable land, its share in the land is over 60% (Fig. 2). The spreading of arable lands was due to the agricultural cooperatives, who during the communist period became a form of exploitation, and, also, to the massive deforestation practices which were made in order to increase the agricultural land area and to develop agriculture. Thus, the agricultural land could be better exploited through standardization of agricultural mechanization and expansion of cultivated areas. This increasing of the agricultural land was favorized by the inauguration in 1974 of Sadova-Corabia irrigation system, built after a collaboration between Romanian and English engineers. Hence, in the 80’s in most villages, the surface occupied by the arable land hold 80% from the total area, the minimum values were in Călăraşi (under 60%), Ostroveni and Sadova (70- 80%). At the opposite pole lies Corabia, Vădăstriţa and Urzica, where the value exceeds 90%. Once the political regime changed, in 1989, a series of laws related to the type of property and land retrocession to the former owners came to the light; the private property continued to

79 increase in size, being helped by Land Law 18/1991, subsequently supplemented and amended by Law 169/1997, Law 1/2000 and Law 247/2005 (Popovici, 2010).

Figure 2. Arable land dynamics within Dăbuleni Plain (1980-2014)

An immediate consequence of these laws was the fragmentation of agricultural structures and the increasing of the decollectivization process. The size of the agricultural units decreased significantly, fact revealed by the decreasing of the proportion (to 70% in 2000) hold by the arable land within total agricultural surface. The lowest values were less than 60% and they were recorded in Sadova and Călăraşi. Corabia was the only village where the values has exceded 90%. The quality and yield potential of arable land experienced a significant decline, small farmers can’t always cover the cost of required improvements and adequate fertilization. At the beginning of 2000’s, small local farmers, started to unite themselves, creating agricultural structures, taking land into lease from the locals in order to make a very economically efficient type of agriculture. There appeared the Irrigation Water Users Organizations, subordinate to the National Administration of Land Improvement, aimed to sell water to farmers and villagers and to rebuild the irrigation system destroyed almost completely after 1990. These attempts to revive agriculture sector, from the study area, were shy as most locals couldn't afford to financially support the costs of production, transportation and sale of products. It is necessary to implement agricultural policies favorable to small farmers (taxes, subsidies, loans) in order to develop and evolve from subsistence agriculture to medium, large or very large size farms, that can bring profit and a development to the whole agricultural sector, and ultimately an increase in the welfare of local people. The proportion of orchards and fruit tree nurseries in the agricultural area experienced a sharp increase during collectivization (Fig. 3). If in the 70’s the area occupied by orchards were under 3% of total agricultural area, the implementation of the solutions obtained by the Central Research Station for Crops on Sandy Soils Dăbuleni-Dolj, as well as the commissioning of the irrigation system has led to a significant rise of these areas High values were recorded in 1990 in some villages such as: Ştefan cel Mare, Ianca (6-9%), Sadova, Călăraşi and Orlea (9-12%) and Grojdibodu, where the proportion exceeded 12%. The declining proportion of the area occupied by orchards and nurseries has started since 1990 and became very rough after 2000, so, in 2014, the average was 3-6%, with significant weights in Călăraşi (6-9%), Sadova and Grojdibodu (9-12%). High temperatures, strong heat-stroke and the possibility of using a irrigation system during dry periods were the perfect conditions for the growth and development of fruit trees on sandy soils. These climatic conditions are an advantage in terms of early maturation of fruits, they grow with 1- 2 weeks before other fruit areas in the country.

80 Extensive research carried out at the Central Research Station for Crops on Sandy Soils Dăbuleni revealed several species of fruit with very good productivity on sandy soils, such as: peach (varieties: Montaigold, Redhaven, Starking Delicious), nectarines (Crimson Gold, John Rivers), cherry (Van, Rainier, Stella), sour cherry (Oblacinska, Cernookaia, Montmorency), apricot (Saturn, Callatis, Sirena), apple (First, Mărculeşti), pear (Williams, flavor Bistriţa). Among the fruit trees good results were obtained by raspberry (varieties The Latham, Scopsca Alena, Rubin), red currant (Jonkheer van tets, Erstling aus Vierlander), blackberry (Thornfree, Smoothstem) and strawberries (Senga Sengana, Red Gaunthlet, Gorella).

Figure 3. Orchards and fruit tree nurseries dynamics within Dăbuleni Plain (1980-2014)

An important role in combating wind erosion have had vineyards and vine nurseries. The presence of sands and sandy soils and a warm climate were a prerequisite for cultivating different varieties of vines beside them having economic role and the role of fixing sands and stopping deflation. In the early 70s, the percentage occupied by vineyards in the farmland was under 5%, but this increase incredibly, many surfaces occupied by pastures and hayfields were often cultivated with vineyards. So, in 1990, high levels are found in places like: Bechet, Ianca, Urzica, Vădastra (5- 10%), Ostroveni, Dăbuleni, Ştefan cel Mare (10-15%), Sadova (15%), and Călăraşi (more than 20%) (Fig. 4).

Figure 4. Vineyards and vine nurseries dynamics within Dăbuleni Plain (1980-2014)

81 In terms of productivity, good results on sandy soils were obtained for varieties such as: Roşioară, Ezerjö, Riesling Italian, Saint Emilion, Rkaţiteli, Fetească Regală (for white wines) and Sangiovese, Burgund Mare, Băbească Neagră, Merlot, Fetească Neagră, Grand Noir de la Calmette (for red wines). The best in terms of quality are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. After the fragmentation of agricultural holdings and the restitution of land to new owners, large areas, including orchards and fruit tree nurseries, were cleared and converted into other types of land use, i.e. arable land, pastures and meadows, or they were left fallow. Shares of vineyards and vine nurseries has decreased significantly, in the year 2014 most villages hovering below 5%. Higher values were recorded in Ostroveni, Bechet, Dăbuleni (5-10%), Călăraşi and Sadova (between 10-15%). The main fields covered by vineyards and orchards are around households, the plantations were cleared, abandoned or poorly crafted. During Communism, the State held most of the higher classes of use of agricultural land and forests while private owners held the majority of natural pastures and hayfields. Expanding agriculture in this period, through the merger of large areas of land, led to a significant drop in the share occupied by pastures and hayfields, less than 3% in most localities in 1990, along with the expansion of land occupied mainly by orchards and vineyards (Fig. 5).

Figure 5. Pastures and hayfields dynamics within Dăbuleni Plain (1980-2014)

Since 1990 the area occupied by pastures has increased significantly because of the abandonment of arable land, which remained fallow, and owing to the massive clearing of vineyards and orchards. Thus, in 2014, pastures and hayfields surfaces often end up above the average of the 90’s in the majority of localities in the study area: Bechet (6-9%), Ostroveni, Sadova, Orlea (9-12%), and Ianca more than 12%. After breaking agricultural lots, and along with changing the land use, the weight of agricultural land within the area occupied by natural pastures and hayfields has grown exponentially.

CONCLUSIONS

Natural conditions of the studied area favorized the formation and expansion of sandy soils, this area being often affected by wind erosion. The existence of restrictive factors limiting agricultural production and quality level imposed appropriate solutions to achieve sustainable agriculture in the study area. Of these factors, the most important are: heat stress, heavy rainfall falling at long intervals of time, long periods of drought, thin and discontinuous snow, low fertility of sandy soils and deflation.

82 The results of the Dăbuleni, Tâmbureşti and Mârşani Research Stations on improving the physical and chemical properties of sandy terrains imposed agropedoameliorative works (shaping or leveling dunes, ameliorating fertilization) and land improvements works (combating wind erosion, irrigation and drainage). Thus, was built the Sadova-Corabia irrigation system that after its first use boosted the agricultural activity by expanding arable land and those occupied by vineyards and orchards, and obtain a good productivity through the cultivation of varieties adapted to the difficult local conditions. The expansion of agriculture combined with strong growth in agricultural productivity had the effect of land use changes, natural steppe vegetation being replaced by agricultural land. Also, there have been changes that have targeted conversion from one class of use to another: before 1990, areas occupied by pastures, meadows, forests were introduced in aside by expanding arable land, those occupied by vineyards and orchards, but also by builded areas occupied after the expansion of rural communities, with special economic contribution in the area. Changing the ownership, after 1990, led to the disappearance of agricultural cooperatives through land restitution to former owners, thus leading to excessive fragmentation of agricultural holdings. Lack of technical and financial means of the new owners, led to the practice of subsistence agriculture, on very small plots, and the land degradation. Over time, it produced a new change to the land use, excessive deforestation and the disappearance of vineyards and orchards led to expansion of areas occupied by pastures and hayfields, but also to the abandonment and degradation of some lands.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank Dăbuleni Research Station, Oltenia Regional Meteorological Center, Office of Cadastre and Land Registration, Dolj and Olt Counties, for the important informations provided from their statistical databases, and also the reviewers and colleagues for their useful suggestions.

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