Estimation of groundwater use by crop production simulated by DSSAT-wheat and DSSAT-maize models in the piedmont region of the North China Plain

Purpose The purpose of this paper is: to track the methods by which farmers access groundwater for irrigation in the North China Plain (NCP); to explore whether climate factors influence farmers’ decisions on the methods of groundwater access for irrigation; and to examine whether the amount of groundwater use for irrigation and crop yield systematically differ across groups of farmers using various methods of groundwater access, and how climate factors affect them. Design/methodology/approach Descriptive statistical analysis and econometric models are used on household survey data collected over several years and county-level climate data. Findings Over the past few decades, a significant share of farmers have switched the methods of groundwater access from collective tubewells to own tubewells or groundwater markets. Farmers who bought water from groundwater markets applied less water to wheat plots than those who had their own tubewells. However, wheat yield was not negatively affected. Both average climate conditions and long-term variations were found to be related to farmers’ choice of methods of groundwater access for irrigation. More frequent droughts and increasingly volatile temperatures both increased the likelihood of farmers gaining groundwater irrigation from markets. Originality/value The analysis results suggest farmers are using groundwater markets to help them adapt to climate change. Applying empirical analysis to identify the impact of the methods by which farmers access groundwater for irrigation on the amount of groundwater use and crop yield will help policy makers design reasonable adaptation policies for the NCP.

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Optimizing irrigation management for wheat to reduce groundwater depletion in the piedmont region of the Taihang Mountains in the North China Plain

Agricultural Water Management ◽

10.1016/j.agwat.2005.07.020 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 82 (1-2) ◽

pp. 25-44 ◽

Cited By ~ 78

Author(s):

Yonghui Yang ◽

Masataka Watanabe ◽

Xiying Zhang ◽

Jiqun Zhang ◽

Qinxue Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

North China Plain ◽

North China ◽

Irrigation Management ◽

Groundwater Depletion ◽

The North ◽

The North China Plain ◽

Piedmont Region

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Effects of Strategic Tillage on Soil Physicochemical Properties and Grain Yield in the North China Plain

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy10081167 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 1167

Author(s):

Qiuyue Liu ◽

Zhengrong Kan ◽

Cong He ◽

Hailin Zhang

Keyword(s):

Physicochemical Properties ◽

Soil Compaction ◽

Crop Production ◽

North China Plain ◽

North China ◽

Soil Depth ◽

Soil Physicochemical Properties ◽

The North ◽

The North China Plain ◽

No Till

No-till (NT) practice has been widely adopted to improve soil quality, but soil compaction and soil organic carbon (SOC) stratification under long-term NT limit crop production. Strategic tillage (ST), based on single tillage, is proposed as an attractive management practice to sustain the benefits of continuous NT and mitigate its adverse effects. Four tillage systems, including continuous rotary tillage (RT), NT, rotary tillage + subsoiling (RS), and no-till + subsoiling (NS), were implemented to investigate the effects of strategic tillage (i.e., RS and NS) on soil physical properties (compaction and aggregates), SOC, and crop yield in the North China Plain (NCP). The results showed that ST as expected decreased soil bulk density, penetration resistance, and SOC stratification compared with RT and NT at 0–20 cm soil depth (p < 0.05). At 0–10 cm soil depth, more macroaggregates (>0.25 mm) were observed in NT and NS, contributing to higher mean weight and geometric mean diameters, this compared with RT and RS. Additionally, macroaggregate associated SOC was higher, thus resulting in higher SOC storage in NT (31.4–33.4 Mg ha −1) and NS (33.3–35.4 Mg ha−1) at 0–30 cm depth (p < 0.05). Low soil compaction and high SOC in NS were beneficial for the grain yield of wheat and maize, significantly higher by 8.7–32.5% and 14.0–29.8% compared with the other treatments, respectively (p < 0.05). Based on our findings, NS seems to be a promising alternative tillage system to improve soil physicochemical properties and crop production in the NCP. More studies are therefore needed to better understand the benefit of NS.

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