Evaluation of Agricultural Productivity Loss of Vineyards Through Water Erosion in Türkiye

Soil erosion in vineyards in semi-arid lands is one of the major problems affecting crop productivity, and this issue is becoming crucial in Turkish vineyards with vulnerable structures in the Mediterranean region. Although there are several studies on viticulture, there are no studies evaluating the condition of the productivity of the vineyards in terms of soil erosion. In this study, the main goal is to estimate the land productivity loss (LPL) caused by water erosion and the consequent crop productivity loss (CLP) for agricultural fields and vineyards, which is significant with hazardous consequences. For this purpose, soil loss data derived by the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) from the Water Erosion Atlas of Türkiye (2018) and land use data from CORINE (2018) were used. According to the study results, the country had a loss of an estimated 0.92% of land productivity due to water erosion, which is approximately 1.84 times higher than that in European Union countries. The LPL in vineyards was estimated at 1.07%, and those results highlight the significant estimation of the crop productivity loss in vineyards of around 9.4 million dollars annually.