scholarly journals A Decoupling Analysis of the Crop Water Footprint Versus Economic Growth in Beijing, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Huang ◽  
Mengqi Wang ◽  
Zhongren Zhou ◽  
Yajuan Yu ◽  
Yixing Bi

Beijing, the capital of China, is experiencing a serious lack of water, which is becoming a main factor in the restriction of the development of the social economy. Due to the low economic efficiency and high consumption proportion of agricultural water use, the relationship between economic growth and agricultural water use is worth investigating. The “decoupling” index is becoming increasingly popular for identifying the degree of non-synchronous variation between resource consumption and economic growth. However, few studies address the decoupling between the crop water consumption and agricultural economic growth. This paper involves the water footprint (WF) to assess the water consumption in the crop production process. After an evaluation of the crop WF in Beijing, this paper applies the decoupling indicators to examine the occurrence of non-synchronous variation between the agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) and crop WF in Beijing from 1981 to 2013. The results show that the WF of crop production in 2013 reduced by 62.1% compared to that in 1980 — in total, 1.81 × 109 m3. According to the decoupling states, the entire study period is divided into three periods. From 1981 to 2013, the decoupling states represented seventy-five percent of the years from 1981 to 1992 (Period I) with a moderate decoupling degree, more than ninety percent from 1993 to 2003 (Period II) with a very strong decoupling degree and moved from non-decoupling to strong decoupling from 2004 to 2013 (Period III). Adjusting plantation structure, technology innovation and raising awareness of water-saving, may promote the decoupling degree between WF and agricultural GDP in Beijing.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Bo Luan ◽  
Ya-Li Yin ◽  
Pu-Te Wu ◽  
Shi-Kun Sun ◽  
Yu-Bao Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract. Fresh water is consumed during agricultural production. With the shortage of water resources, assessing the water use efficiency is crucial to effectively managing agricultural water resources. The water footprint is a new index for water use evaluation, and it can reflect the quantity and types of water usage during crop growth. This study aims to establish a method for calculating the region-scale water footprint of crop production based on hydrological processes. This method analyzes the water-use process during the growth of crops, which includes irrigation, precipitation, underground water, evapotranspiration, and drainage, and it ensures a more credible evaluation of water use. As illustrated by the case of the Hetao irrigation district (HID), China, the water footprints of wheat, corn and sunflower were calculated using this method. The results show that canal water loss and evapotranspiration were responsible for most of the water consumption and accounted for 47.9 % and 41.8 % of the total consumption, respectively. The total water footprints of wheat, sunflower and corn were 1380–2888 m3/t, 942–1774 m3/t, and 2095–4855 m3/t, respectively, and the blue footprint accounts for more than 86 %. The spatial distribution pattern of the green, blue and total water footprint for the three crops demonstrated that higher values occurred in the eastern part of the HID, which had more precipitation and was further from the irrigating gate. This study offers a vital reference for improving the method used to calculate the crop water footprint.


Agriculture ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Luca Rossi ◽  
Luca Regni ◽  
Sara Rinaldi ◽  
Paolo Sdringola ◽  
Roberto Calisti ◽  
...  

Life Cycle Assessment (the systematic analysis of the environmental impact of products during their entire life cycle), Carbon Footprint and Water Footprint assessments play an important role in decision-making processes. These assessments can help guide land management decisions and will likely play a larger role in the future, especially in natural areas with high biodiversity. Agriculture is a substantial consumer of fresh water, so it is important to identify causes and possible solutions to optimize agricultural water use. Water footprint assessments consider water consumption from several points of view and aid in reaching Sustainable Development Goals. Olive trees are a widespread agricultural crop growing in the Mediterranean Basin and are particularly important in the Umbria region in Italy. This paper estimates the water footprint impact related to the production of 1 kg of olives in a rainfed olive orchard managed using low environmental impact techniques. Eleven years of data collection (meteorological data, olives yield data, processes data) are analyzed for typical rural conditions. The results show that local management techniques have lower water requirements than standard international usages. These results can be used to improve and to further explore agricultural water use.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9678
Author(s):  
Aihua Long ◽  
Pei Zhang ◽  
Yang Hai ◽  
Xiaoya Deng ◽  
Junfeng Li ◽  
...  

Scientifically determining agricultural water consumption is fundamental to the optimum allocation and regulation of regional water resources. However, traditional statistical methods used for determining agricultural water consumption in China do not reflect the actual use of water resources. This paper determined the variation in the crop water footprint (CWF) to reflect the actual agricultural water consumption in Xinjiang, China, during the past 30 years, and the data from 15 crops were included. In addition, the STIRPAT (stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence and technology) model was used to determine the factors influencing the CWF. The results showed that the CWF in Xinjiang increased by 256% during the 30-year period. Factors such as population, agricultural added value, and effective irrigated area were correlated with an increase in the CWF. This study also showed that the implementation of national and regional policies significantly accelerated the expansion of agricultural production areas and increased the amount of agricultural water used. The objectives of this paper were to identify the factors influencing the CWF, give a new perspective for further analysis of the relationship between agricultural growth and water resources utilization, and provide a reference for local policy decision-makers in Xinjiang.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ge Song ◽  
Chao Dai ◽  
Qian Tan ◽  
Shan Zhang

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.


Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pei Zhang ◽  
Xiaoya Deng ◽  
Aihua Long ◽  
Yang Hai ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
...  

Irrigation plays an important role in China’s agricultural production, and a reasonable assessment of water resources consumption in agricultural production will contribute to improved agricultural water management practices. The objectives of this study were to analyze variations in the magnitude of the crop water footprint (CWF) in Xinjiang and determine the major factors that influence variation in order to provide proposals for water resources management. The CWF of Xinjiang from 1988 to 2015 was calculated, and the impacts of crop-planting structures, agricultural inputs, and water conservancy projects on agricultural water use were analyzed to evaluate the suitable amount of agricultural water utilization and area of farmland in Xinjiang. Results show that the magnitude of the CWF in Xinjiang significantly increased during the study period. Construction of water conservancy projects greatly facilitated water diversion and had the closest relationship with the growth of CWF. The appropriate water volume and planting area for agriculture in Xinjiang is calculated to be 39.4 billion m3 and 4.3 million ha, respectively, which are 73% and 65% of the current water consumption and cultivated area, respectively. These results can be used as a reference for reducing agricultural water consumption and the farmland area in Xinjiang.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Somayeh Rezaei Kalvani ◽  
Amir Hamzah Sharaai ◽  
Latifah Abd Manaf ◽  
Amir Hossein Hamidian

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 194 ◽  
pp. 05017
Author(s):  
Hong Hou ◽  
Youqian Qiao ◽  
Xiangran Li

Agricultural water is the largest water user in Yantai City, and its water consumption accounts for more than 2/3 of the total water consumption in Yantai City. The potential for agricultural water saving is huge, but the overall level of agricultural water efficiency in Yantai City is not very high, and the waste of water resources is serious. Efficient agricultural water use in Yantai is a key issue for achieving efficient and sustainable use of water resources in Yantai. Different regions in the study area have different social and economic developments, different industrial structures, and different natural climates, and their investments in agricultural water conservancy facilities are also different. In order to better study the agricultural efficient water use model in Yantai City. This article will divide the agricultural irrigation sub-area according to the actual situation of Yantai.


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