Using Regional Virtual Water Trade and Water Footprint Accounting for Optimizing Crop Patterns to Mitigate Water Crises in Dry Regions

Purpose The onset of climate change is expected to result in variations in weather patterns which can exacerbate water scarcity issues. This can potentially impact the economic productivity of nations as economic activities are highly dependent on water especially for agricultural countries. In response to this, the concepts of virtual water and water footprint have been introduced as metrics for measuring the water intensity of products, services and nations. Researchers have thus looked into virtual water trade flows as a potential strategy for alleviating water scarcity. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Environmentally extended input-output models (IOMs) are often used to analyze interactions between economic and ecological systems. This work thus develops a multi-regional input-output model for optimizing virtual water trade between different geographic regions in consideration of local environmental resource constraints, product demands and economic productivity. Findings A case study on agriculture crop production and trade in different regions of the Philippines is utilized to demonstrate the capabilities of the model. The results show that the optimal strategy does not necessarily limit a water-scarce region to produce less water-intensive crops. Research limitations/implications The model uses an input-output framework whose fixed coefficients reflect a fixed technological state. As such, the model is best used for short-term projections, or projections for mature technological state (i.e. where no major gains in efficiency or yield can be foreseen). Practical implications The proposed modeling framework can be used in any geographic region (provided relevant statistical data are available for calibration) to provide decision support for optimal use of limited water resources. Originality/value The model proposed in this work has general applicability to the optimal planning of agro-industrial systems under water footprint constraints. This modeling approach will be particularly valuable in the future, as climate change causes changes in precipitation patterns and water availability.

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India rice export and virtual water trade

Journal of Applied and Natural Science ◽

10.31018/jans.v13isi.2775 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (SI) ◽

pp. 43-46

Author(s):

Uma Gowri M. ◽

Shivakumar K. M.

Keyword(s):

Rice Field ◽

Water Footprint ◽

Virtual Water ◽

Rice Production ◽

Green Water ◽

Virtual Water Trade ◽

Agronomic Practices ◽

Study Results ◽

The World ◽

Full Swing

The present study aimed to assess water footprint in the production and export of rice in India. From recent few years, the water footprint conception in full swing to inward detection around the world. The amplified attention in the water footprint has impelled the trade of commodities between countries. Water footprint in the rice field is a sign of water use that exhibits direct and indirect water usage in the rice field. Rice is an important food crop in India. It accesses the flows of water virtually between countries/regions of the world to illustrate the dependency of countries/regions on water resources with other countries/regions under diverse feasible futures. Hence, it is gaining consequence to calculate the water foot print in production as well as export of rice. The Indian rice production and export of rice was calculated by using international trade and domestic production data. The study results indicated that the global footprint of rice production was 235774 Mm3 per ton which was 53 % of green water footprint, 41 % of blue water footprint and 6 % of grey water footprint for 2018-19. The virtual water flowed in trade was 24354 Mm3/year and the percolation was 16924 Mm3/year since rice is a more water consuming crop. The share of basmati and non-basmati trade accounted was 16 % and 42 %, respectively. Virtual water trade in rice can be minimized by exporting less water demand and high-value crops, proper water harvesting structures and other agronomic practices.

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Virtual water trade and water footprint of agricultural goods: the 1961–2016 CWASI database

Earth System Science Data ◽

10.5194/essd-13-2025-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 2025-2051

Author(s):

Stefania Tamea ◽

Marta Tuninetti ◽

Irene Soligno ◽

Francesco Laio

Keyword(s):

International Trade ◽

Bilateral Trade ◽

Water Footprint ◽

Temporal Evolution ◽

Virtual Water ◽

Unit Weight ◽

Local Production ◽

Virtual Water Trade ◽

Definition Of ◽

Country Specific

Abstract. To support national and global assessments of water use in agriculture, we build a comprehensive database of country-specific water footprint and virtual water trade (VWT) data for 370 agricultural goods. The water footprint, indicating the water needed for the production of a good including rainwater and water from surface water and groundwater bodies, is expressed as a volume per unit weight of the good (or unit water footprint, uWF) and is here estimated at the country scale for every year in the period 1961–2016. The uWF is also differentiated, where possible, between production and supply, referring to local production and to a weighted mean of local production and import, respectively. The VWT data, representing the amount of water needed for the production of a good and virtually exchanged with the international trade, are provided for each commodity as bilateral trade matrices, between origin and destination countries, for every year in the period 1986–2016. The database, developed within the CWASI project, improves upon earlier datasets because it takes into account the annual variability of the uWF of crops, it accounts for both produced and imported goods in the definition of the supply-side uWF, and it traces goods across the international trade up to the origin of goods' production. The CWASI database is available on the Zenodo repository at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4606794 (Tamea et al., 2020), and it welcomes contributions and improvements from the research community to enable analyses specifically accounting for the temporal evolution of the uWF.

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