“Despite an exceptionally dry season, we still managed to harvest something. Without these solutions, the outcome could have been very different.”

See the testimonial of Mladen Maletić, a Croatian maize farmer and EliZea user.

Discover how Mladen Maletić trialled EliZea on his maize during one of the driest seasons Croatia has experienced in recent years. He shares the challenges his farm faced, the observations made throughout the season and why he believes preparing crops before water stress occurs is becoming increasingly important.

Mladen Maletić farms in Slavonia, in eastern Croatia, a region where spring crops are increasingly exposed to severe water shortages. Looking for solutions to better prepare his maize for water stress, he joined one of the first on-farm EliZea trials conducted in Croatia.

The season proved exceptionally challenging. Rainfall was almost non-existent throughout May and June, canals dried up, groundwater levels dropped dramatically and wells ran dry. With no nearby river available for irrigation, the crop had to cope with prolonged periods of water deficit.

Despite these extremely difficult conditions, Mladen was still able to harvest his crop. For him, the trial demonstrated the value of preparing maize before water stress occurs. The field observations and harvest results convinced him that preventive solutions such as EliZea can help preserve crop performance, even during exceptionally dry seasons.

As climate variability continues to increase, Mladen believes that anticipating water stress rather than reacting to it will become an essential part of crop management. His experience reinforces the importance of preventive agronomic solutions to help protect yield potential under increasingly unpredictable growing conditions.