4. Visit of an external supervisor on our project
On Thursday, January 30, 2020, we were visited for the fourth time by the external supervisor for Slovenia, dr. Mitja Kaligarič from NEEMO EEIG, which is authorized to supervise the progress of LIFE projects. The external supervisor visits each project once a year at the time of implementation of each project. The LIFE ViVaCCAdapt project is co-financed by the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning in 20%. Therefore, the visit of the external supervisor is combined with the visit of the administrator of our contract, Ms. Barbara Simonič of the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning.
We are approaching the fifth and thus the last year of project implementation. So far, among other things, the project has prepared a Regional analysis to support adaptation of agriculture to climate change in Vipava Valley, which identified as good measures for adaptation the measures of green windbreaks and irrigation, which we also implemented within the project. We planted 1500 m2 of green windbreak, and offered farmers the option of using TDR probes and thus the DSSI – Decision Support system for irrigation.
Dr. Kaligarič conducted an administrative and financial review of the project implementation, performed an overview of the collected project documentation, which we need to keep in our organization as we are the project coordinating beneficiary.
The most interesting part we left for the end of the visit, since we presented to the external supervisor and administrator of our contract in the field the operation of one of the implemented measures of adaptation to climate change, namely the DSSI system.
The decision support system for irrigation, or shorter DSSI, was developed in 2018 for the purposes of professionally correct irrigation. At the end of 2018, land users who participate in the project received usernames and passwords to access data for their plots. During the 2019 irrigation season, DSSI came to full functioning. We have upgraded and adjusted the system several times so far. We try to keep DSSI user-friendly and to the fullest extent possible to consider user comments. DSSI offers the user the ability to control the use of irrigation water, which is very important in the light of the increasing climate change, which gives us less rain every irrigation season.
For the purpose of presenting the DSSI system to dr. Kaligarič and Ms. Simonič, we made arrangements with Mr. Kodrič, a user from Brje, who was waiting for us in his khaki plantation, where he has an irrigation system and a TDR probe installed, which he also showed us. He presented to the external supervisor and contract administrator from the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning how his irrigation system works and also congratulated us fot the work done so far on the operation of the DSSI system at the current stage.
DSSI will also be available after the completion of the ViVaCCAdapt LIFE project. New users will be able to join it, and it will also be available in other regions, gradually throughout Slovenia.
We would like to take this occasion to thank Mr. Ivan Elija Kodrič for kindness and willingness to meet with project partners, external supervisor and contract administrator and to present to us all his way of working and irrigation and for showing confidence in the operation of the SPON system.
