Impact of changing cropping pattern on the regional agricultural water productivity

2014 ◽  
Vol 153 (5) ◽  
pp. 767-778 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. K. SUN ◽  
P. T. WU ◽  
Y. B. WANG ◽  
X. N. ZHAO
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Irrigation District ◽  
Cropping Pattern ◽  
Agricultural Water ◽  
Cropping Patterns ◽  
Cash Crops ◽  
The Impact

SUMMARYWater scarcity is a major constraint of agricultural production in arid and semi-arid areas. In the face of future water scarcity, one possible way the agricultural sector could be adapted is to change cropping patterns and make adjustments for available water resources for irrigation. The present paper analyses the temporal evolution of cropping pattern from 1960 to 2008 in the Hetao Irrigation District (HID), China. The impact of changing cropping patterns on regional agricultural water productivity is evaluated from the water footprint (WF) perspective. Results show that the area under cash crops (e.g. sunflower and melon) has risen phenomenally over the study period because of increased economic returns pursued by farmers. Most of these cash crops have a smaller WF (high water productivity) than grain crops in HID. With the increase of area sown to cash crops, water productivity in HID increased substantially. Changing the cropping pattern has significant effects on regional crop water productivity: in this way, HID has increased the total crop production without increasing significantly the regional water consumption. The results of this case study indicate that regional agricultural water can be used effectively by properly planning crop areas and patterns under irrigation water limitations. However, there is a need to foster a cropping pattern that is multifunctional and sustainable, which can guarantee food security, enhance natural resource use and provide stable and high returns to farmers.

scholarly journals WATER FOOTPRINT OF CROP PRODUCTION IN TEHRAN PROVINCE

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Somayeh Rezaei Kalvani ◽  
Amir Hamzah Sharaai ◽  
Latifah Abd Manaf ◽  
Amir Hossein Hamidian
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Agricultural Water ◽  
Severe Water Stress ◽  
Tehran Province

Evaluation of supply chain of water consumption contributes toward reducing water scarcity, as it allows for increased water productivity in the agricultural sector. Water Footprint (WF) is a powerful tool for water management; it accounts for the volume of water consumption at high spatial and temporal resolution. The objective of this research is to investigate the water footprint trend of crop production in Tehran from 2008 to 2015 and to assess blue water scarcity in the agricultural sector. Water consumption of crop production was evaluated based on the WF method. Evapotranspiration was evaluated by applying the CROPWAT model. Blue water scarcity was evaluated using the blue water footprint-to-blue water availability formula. The results demonstrate that pistachio, cotton, walnut, almond, and wheat have a large WF, amounting to 11.111 m3/kg, 4,703 m3/kg, 3,932 m3/kg, 3,217 m3/kg, and 1.817 m3/kg, respectively. Agricultural blue water scarcity amounted to 0.6 (severe water stress class) (2015–2016). Agricultural water consumption in Tehran is unsustainable since it contributes to severe blue water scarcity. Tehran should reduce agricultural water scarcity by reducing the water footprint of the agricultural sector.

scholarly journals WATER FOOTPRINT OF CROP PRODUCTION IN TEHRAN PROVINCE

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Somayeh Rezaei Kalvani ◽  
Amir Hamzah Sharaai ◽  
Latifah Abd Manaf ◽  
Amir Hossein Hamidian
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Agricultural Water ◽  
Severe Water Stress ◽  
Tehran Province

Evaluation of supply chain of water consumption contributes toward reducing water scarcity, as it allows for increased water productivity in the agricultural sector. Water Footprint (WF) is a powerful tool for water management; it accounts for the volume of water consumption at high spatial and temporal resolution. The objective of this research is to investigate the water footprint trend of crop production in Tehran from 2008 to 2015 and to assess blue water scarcity in the agricultural sector. Water consumption of crop production was evaluated based on the WF method. Evapotranspiration was evaluated by applying the CROPWAT model. Blue water scarcity was evaluated using the blue water footprint-to-blue water availability formula. The results demonstrate that pistachio, cotton, walnut, almond, and wheat have a large WF, amounting to 11.111 m3/kg, 4,703 m3/kg, 3,932 m3/kg, 3,217 m3/kg, and 1.817 m3/kg, respectively. Agricultural blue water scarcity amounted to 0.6 (severe water stress class) (2015–2016). Agricultural water consumption in Tehran is unsustainable since it contributes to severe blue water scarcity. Tehran should reduce agricultural water scarcity by reducing the water footprint of the agricultural sector.

scholarly journals Agricultural Water Management Model Based on Grey Water Footprints under Uncertainty and its Application

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ge Song ◽  
Chao Dai ◽  
Qian Tan ◽  
Shan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Programming Model ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Irrigation District ◽  
Agricultural Water ◽  
Grey Water ◽  
Availability Constraints ◽  
Negative Impacts

The grey water footprint theory was introduced into a fractional programming model to alleviate non-point source pollution and increase water-use efficiency through the adjustment of crop planting structure. The interval programming method was also incorporated within the developed framework to handle parametric uncertainties. The objective function of the model was the ratio of economic benefits to grey water footprints from crop production, and the constraints contained water availability constraints, food security constraints, planting area constraints, grey water footprint constraints and non-negative constraints. The model was applied to the Hetao Irrigation District of China. It was found that, based on the data in the year of 2016, the optimal planting plans generated from the developed model would reduce 34,400 m3 of grey water footprints for every 100 million Yuan gained from crops. Under the optimal planting structure, the total grey water footprints would be reduced by 21.9 million m3, the total economic benefits from crops would be increased by 1.138 billion Yuan, and the irrigation water would be saved by 44 million m3. The optimal results could provide decision-makers with agricultural water use plans with reduced negative impacts on the environment and enhanced economic benefits from crops.

scholarly journals Changing global cropping patterns to minimize national blue water scarcity

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 3015-3031
Author(s):  
Hatem Chouchane ◽  
Maarten S. Krol ◽  
Arjen Y. Hoekstra
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Resource Constraints ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Cropping Patterns ◽  
Food Trade ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Comparative Advantages ◽  
Water Scarce

Abstract. Feeding a growing population with global natural-resource constraints becomes an increasingly challenging task. Changing spatial cropping patterns could contribute to sustaining crop production and mitigating water scarcity. Previous studies on water saving through international food trade focussed either on comparing water productivities among food-trading countries or on analysing food trade in relation to national water endowments. Here, we consider, for the first time, how both differences in national average water productivities and water endowments can be considered to analyse comparative advantages of countries for different types of crop production. A linear-optimization algorithm is used to find modifications in global cropping patterns that reduce national blue water scarcity in the world's most severely water-scarce countries, while keeping global production of each crop unchanged and preventing any increase in total irrigated or rainfed harvested areas in each country. The results are used to assess national comparative advantages and disadvantages for different crops. Even when allowing a maximum expansion of the irrigated or rainfed harvested area per crop per country of only 10 %, the blue water scarcity in the world's most water-scarce countries can be greatly reduced. In this case, we could achieve a reduction of the global blue water footprint of crop production of 21 % and a decrease of the global total harvested and irrigated areas of 2 % and 10 % respectively. Shifts in rainfed areas have a dominant share in reducing the blue water footprint of crop production.

scholarly journals Physical versus economic water footprints in crop production: a case study for China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xi Yang ◽  
La Zhuo ◽  
Pengxuan Xie ◽  
Hongrong Huang ◽  
Bianbian Feng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Value Creation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Cash Crops ◽  
Trade Offs

Abstract. A core goal of sustainable agricultural water resources management is to implement lower water footprint (WF), i.e., higher water productivity, while maximising economic benefits in crop production. However, previous studies mostly focused on crop water productivity from a single physical perspective. Little attention is paid to synergies and trade-offs between water consumption and economic value creation of crop production. Distinguishing between blue and green water composition, grain and cash crops, and irrigation and rainfed production mode in China, this study calculates the production-based WF (PWF) and derives the economic value-based WF (EWF) of 14 major crops in 31 provinces for each year over 2001–2016. The synergy evaluation index (SI) of PWF and EWF is proposed to evaluate quantitatively the synergies and trade-offs between the two. Results show that both the PWF and EWF of most considered crops in China decreased with the increase of crop yield and prices. The high (low) values of both PWF and EWF of grain crop tended to obvious cluster in space and there existed a huge difference between blue and green water in economic value creation. Moreover, the SI revealed a serious incongruity between PWFs and EWFs both in grain and cash crops. Negative SI values occurred mostly in northwest China for grain crops, and overall more often and with lower values for cash crops. Unreasonable regional planting structure and crop prices resulted in this incongruity, suggesting the need to promote regional coordinated development to adjust the planting structure according to local conditions and to regulate crop prices rationally.

scholarly journals Changing global cropping patterns to minimize blue water scarcity in the world's hotspots

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hatem Chouchane ◽  
Maarten S. Krol ◽  
Arjen Y. Hoekstra
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Resource Constraints ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Cropping Patterns ◽  
Food Trade ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Comparative Advantages ◽  
National Water

Abstract. Feeding a growing population with global natural resource constraints becomes an increasingly challenging task. Changing spatial cropping patterns and international crop trade could contribute to sustain crop production and mitigate water scarcity. Previous studies on water saving through international food trade focussed either on comparing water productivities among food-trading countries or on analysing food trade in relation to national water endowments. Here, we consider, for the first time, how both differences in water productivities and water endowments can be considered to analyse comparative advantages of countries for different types of crop production. A linear optimization algorithm is used to find modifications in global cropping patterns that reduce blue water scarcity in the world's hotspots, under the constraint of current global production per crop and current cropland areas. The optimization considers national water and land endowments as well as water and land productivity per country per crop. The results are used to assess national comparative advantages and disadvantages for different crops. When allowing a maximum expansion of harvested area per crop per country of 10 %, the blue water scarcity in the world's most water-scarce countries can be greatly reduced. In this case, we could achieve a reduction of the current blue water footprint of crop production in the world of 9 % and a decrease of global total harvested area of 4 %.

scholarly journals Equitable Allocation of Blue and Green Water Footprints Based on Land-Use Types: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Liu ◽  
Lu Shi ◽  
Kevin Li
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Optimal Allocation ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Agricultural Water ◽  
Land Area ◽  
Lexicographic Optimization ◽  
The Impact

This paper develops a lexicographic optimization model to allocate agricultural and non-agricultural water footprints by using the land area as the influencing factor. An index known as the water-footprint-land density (WFLD) index is then put forward to assess the impact and equity of the resulting allocation scheme. Subsequently, the proposed model is applied to a case study allocating water resources for the 11 provinces and municipalities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB). The objective is to achieve equitable spatial allocation of water resources from a water footprint perspective. Based on the statistical data in 2013, this approach starts with a proper accounting for water footprints in the 11 YREB provinces. We then determined an optimal allocation of water footprints by using the proposed lexicographic optimization approach from a land area angle. Lastly, we analyzed how different types of land uses contribute to allocation equity and we discuss policy changes to implement the optimal allocation schemes in the YREB. Analytical results show that: (1) the optimized agricultural and non-agricultural water footprints decrease from the current levels for each province across the YREB, but this decrease shows a heterogeneous pattern; (2) the WFLD of 11 YREB provinces all decline after optimization with the largest decline in Shanghai and the smallest decline in Sichuan; and (3) the impact of agricultural land on the allocation of agricultural water footprints is mainly reflected in the land use structure of three land types including arable land, forest land, and grassland. The different land use structures in the upstream, midstream, and downstream regions lead to the spatial heterogeneity of the optimized agricultural water footprints in the three YREB segments; (4) In addition to the non-agricultural land area, different regional industrial structures are the main reason for the spatial heterogeneity of the optimized non-agricultural water footprints. Our water-footprint-based optimal water resources allocation scheme helps alleviate the water resources shortage pressure and achieve coordinated and balanced development in the YREB.

scholarly journals Analysis of intra-country virtual water trade strategy to alleviate water scarcity in Iran

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 2609-2649 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Faramarzi ◽  
H. Yang ◽  
J. Mousavi ◽  
R. Schulin ◽  
C. R. Binder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
National Level ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Mixed Integer ◽  
Baseline Scenario ◽  
Cropping Pattern ◽  
Virtual Water Trade ◽  
Cereal Production

Abstract. Increasing water scarcity has posed a major constraint to sustain food production in many parts of the world. To study the situation at the regional level, we took Iran as an example and analyzed how an intra-country "virtual water trade strategy" (VWTS) may help improve cereal production as well as alleviate the water scarcity problem. This strategy calls, in part, for the adjustment of the structure of cropping pattern (ASCP) and interregional food trade where crop yield and crop water productivity as well as local economic and social conditions are taken into account. We constructed a systematic framework to assess ASCP at the provincial level under various driving forces and constraints. A mixed-integer, multi-objective, linear optimization model was developed and solved by linear programming. Data from 1990–2004 were used to account for yearly fluctuations of water availability and food production. Five scenarios were designed aimed at maximizing the national cereal production while meeting certain levels of wheat self-sufficiency under various water and land constraints in individual provinces. The results show that under the baseline scenario, which assumes a continuation of the existing water use and food policy at the national level, some ASCP scenarios could produce more wheat with less water. Based on different scenarios in ASCP, we calculated that 31% to 100% of the total wheat shortage in the deficit provinces could be supplied by the wheat surplus provinces. As a result, wheat deficit provinces would receive 3.5 billion m3 to 5.5 billion m3 of virtual water by importing wheat from surplus provinces.

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