An assessment of the trend in soil water dynamics in agricultural regions of Slovakia was carried out for the period 1961 – 2020. Simulations of water balance and crop water stress with the DAISY model were used for the assessment. Simulations were carried out for representative soil profiles of selected regions. Crop rotations including grain maize, spring barley, winter wheat, sugar beet and potatoes were simulated. According to the simulated values of soil water potential, in the 0 – 30 cm soil horizon thickness, according to the ecological classification of the water regime, soil moisture occurred in the arid interval almost every year on the Podunajská nížina in the southwest, and on the Východoslovenská nížina in the southeast in four out of five years. In the long term, the lowest soil water storage, expressed as percentage of available soil water capacity (ASWC), are in the west of the Záhorská nížina in the west and in the south-east of the Podunajská nížina. Changes in climatic conditions have had an impact on soil water storage. In the period 1991 – 2020 there was a slight decrease in the average soil water content in most of Slovakia compared to the period 1961 – 1990. On the contrary, an increase in soil water storage in the period 1991 – 2020 compared to the period 1961 – 1990 occurred in the south-east of the Podunajská nížina, in the Ipeľ Basin, in Spiš, and Šariš regions. The soil water deficit needed to meet the crop water requirements has increased in all southern regions except the south-east of the Podunajská nížina. The number of days with water stress can exceed 90 days in southern areas in dry years.
Takáč et al. (Sat,) studied this question.