scholarly journals An improved method for calculating the regional crop water footprint based on a hydrological process analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 5111-5123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Bo Luan ◽  
Ya-Li Yin ◽  
Pu-Te Wu ◽  
Shi-Kun Sun ◽  
Yu-Bao Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Process Analysis ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Irrigation District ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Hydrological Process ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Crop Water

Abstract. Fresh water is consumed during agricultural production. With the shortage of water resources, assessing the water use efficiency is crucial to effectively manage agricultural water resources. The water footprint is an improved 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 regional-scale water footprint of crop production based on hydrological processes, and the water footprint is quantified in terms of blue and green water. This method analyses the water-use process during the growth of crops, which includes irrigation, precipitation, groundwater, 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 footprint of wheat, corn and sunflowers 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 footprint of wheat, corn and sunflowers were 1380–2888, 942–1774 and 2095–4855 m3 t−1, respectively, and the blue footprint accounts for more than 86 %. The spatial distribution pattern of the green, blue and total water footprints for the three crops demonstrated that higher values occurred in the eastern part of the HID, which had more precipitation and was further away from the irrigation gate. This study offers a vital reference for improving the method used to calculate the crop water footprint.

scholarly journals An improved method for calculating regional crop water footprint based on hydrological process analysis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Bo Luan ◽  
Ya-Li Yin ◽  
Pu-Te Wu ◽  
Shi-Kun Sun ◽  
Yu-Bao Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Process Analysis ◽  
Irrigation District ◽  
Hydrological Process ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Total Consumption

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.

scholarly journals Water footprint in family farming

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. e26610615777
Author(s):  
Ana Luiza Grateki Barbosa ◽  
Daniel Brasil Ferreira Pinto ◽  
Rafael Alvarenga Almeida
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Family Farming ◽  
Gray Water ◽  
The Family

Currently, the management of water resources has gained greater visibility and has become indispensable, with the need for different methodologies which consider all water used and incorporated in the processes and products. In this way, the water footprint concept has been introduced to calculate the appropriation of fresh water on the part of the humankind. Thus, the objective of this work was to determine the water footprint in some sectors of family farming in the municipality of Teófilo Otoni – MG, analyzing the agricultural production of crops cultivated exclusively by the sector in 2017 in Teófilo Otoni. The cultivation of pumpkin, banana, chayote, beans, cassava, Maize, peppers, okra, cabbage, and tangerine were studied. Thus, the total water footprint for the year 2017 was 13,996,735.05 m3.t-1, in which the green water footprint represents 86%, the blue water footprint represents 12.5% and the gray water footprint equals 1.5%. The family farming sector of Teófilo Otoni demands an average of 196.73 liters for a production of R$ 1.00.

Assessment of Water Footprint for Koshi River Basin (KRB), Nepal

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raj Deva Singh ◽  
Kumar Ghimire ◽  
Ashish Pandey
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Green And Blue Water ◽  
Koshi River Basin

<p>Nepal is an agrarian country and almost one-third of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is dependent on agricultural sector. Koshi river basin is the largest basin in the country and serves large share on agricultural production. Like another country, Nepalese agriculture holds largest water use in agriculture. In this context, it is necessary to reduce water use pressure. In this study, water footprint of different crop (rice, maize, wheat, millet, sugarcane, potato and barley) have been estimated for the year 2005 -2014 to get the average water footprint of crop production during study period. CROPWAT model, developed by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO 2010b).</p><p>For the computation of the green and blue water footprints, estimated values of ET (the output of CROPWAT model) and yield (derived from statistical data) are utilised. Blue and green water footprint are computed for different districts (16 districts within KRB) / for KRB in different years (10 years from 2005 to 2014) and crops (considered 7 local crops). The water footprint of crops production for any district or basin represents the average of WF production of seven crops in the respective district or basin.</p><p>The study provides a picture of green and blue water use in crop production in the field and reduction in the water footprint of crop production by selecting suitable crops at different places in the field. The Crop, that has lower water footprint, can be intensified at that location and the crops, having higher water footprint, can be discontinued for production or measure for water saving technique needs to be implemented reducing evapotranspiration. The water footprint of agriculture crop production can be reduced by increasing the yield of the crops. Some measures like use of an improved variety of seed, fertilizer, mechanized farming and soil moisture conservation technology may also be used to increase the crop yields.</p><p>The crop harvested areas include both rainfed as well as irrigated land. Agricultural land occupies 22% of the study area, out of which 94% areas are rainfed whereas remaining 6% areas are under irrigation. The study shows 98% of total water use in crop production is due to green water use (received from rainfall) and remaining 2 % is due to blue water use received from irrigation (surface and ground water as source). Potato has 22% blue water proportion and contributes 85% share to the total blue water use in the basin. Maize and rice together hold 77% share of total water use in crops production. The average annual water footprint of crop production in KRB is 1248 cubic meter/ton having the variation of 9% during the period of 2005-2014. Sunsari, Dhankuta districts have lower water footprint of crop production. The coefficient of variation of water footprint of millet crop production is lower as compared to those of other crops considered for study whereas sugarcane has a higher variation of water footprint for its production.</p>

scholarly journals Assessment of Crop Water Footprint for Different Varieties of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ramachandran ◽  
R. Lalitha ◽  
S. Vallal Kannan ◽  
K. Sivasubramanian
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Different Levels

Background: Water Footprint is a recently used indicator which helps to reduce water depletion and alleviate water stress in areas of drought and proper crop cultivation. Hence a study was taken up to assess the crop water footprint of different groundnut varieties namely TMV 7, VRI 2, VRI 3, VRI Gn 5, VRI Gn 6, CO 3, CO Gn 4, ALR 3 and TMV Gn 13 cultivated during Kharif and Rabi seasons at Tiruchirapalli district of Tamil Nadu. Methods: The total water requirement, blue and green crop evapotranspiration, blue and green crop water use and total water footprint for different varieties of groundnut were estimated using CROPWAT 8.0 Windows. A comparison was made between the water footprint of groundnut varieties and the strategies to reduce water footprint is presented. Result: The total water footprint for groundnut varieties ranged from 2603 to 4889 m3 ton-1 (CV of 26%) during kharif season, while it was ranged from 1465 to 2470 m3 ton-1 (CV of 18%) during rabi season. It was found that in all groundnut varieties the blue water footprint is higher than the green water footprint, while VRI Gn 5 variety had minimum total water footprint. It was concluded that, the groundnut production is affected by different levels of blue water stress which requires effective irrigation practices and water management strategies to enhance the crop production.

scholarly journals Exploring City Development Modes under the Dual Control of Water Resources and Energy-Related CO2 Emissions: The Case of Beijing, China

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3155
Author(s):  
Yan Wang ◽  
Weihua Xiao ◽  
Yicheng Wang ◽  
Baodeng Hou ◽  
Heng Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Least Squares ◽  
Partial Least Squares ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Service Level ◽  
Total Water

Water and energy are basic resources for urban development. It is of extreme importance to balance economic development, water and energy security, and environmental sustainability at the city level. Although many studies have focused on energy-related CO2 emissions or water resources, individually, in relation to socioeconomic development, few studies have considered water and energy-related CO2 emissions as synchronous limiting factors. Here, taking Beijing as an example, a partial least squares STIRPAT model—a method that combines partial least squares with the STIRPAT (stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence, and technology) model—was used to determine the main driving factors of water use and energy-related CO2 emissions at the regional scale from 1996 to 2016. The empirical results showed that the population, per capita gross domestic product (GDP), urbanization level, technology level, and service level, are all important factors that influence the total water use and energy-related CO2 emissions. Additionally, eight scenarios were established to explore suitable development modes for future years. Consequently, a medium growth rate in socioeconomic status and population, and a high growth rate in the technology and service level, were found to be the most appropriate development modes. This scenario would result in a total water use of 4432.13 million m3 and energy-related CO2 emissions of 173.64 million tons in 2030. The results provide a new perspective for decision makers to explore suitable measures for simultaneously conserving water resources and reducing energy-related CO2 emissions in the context of urban development.

scholarly journals Assessing blue and green water utilisation in wheat production of China from the perspectives of water footprint and total water use

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 3165-3178 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. C. Cao ◽  
P. T. Wu ◽  
Y. B. Wang ◽  
X. N. Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Wheat Production ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Wheat Product

Abstract. The aim of this study is to estimate the green and blue water footprint (WF) and the total water use (TWU) of wheat crop in China in both irrigated and rainfed productions. Crop evapotranspiration and water evaporation loss are both considered when calculating the water footprint in irrigated fields. We compared the water use for per-unit product between irrigated and rainfed crops and analyzed the relationship between promoting the yield and conserving water resources. The national total and per-unit-product WF of wheat production in 2010 were approximately 111.5 Gm3 (64.2% green and 35.8% blue) and 0.968 m3 kg−1, respectively. There is a large difference in the water footprint of the per-kilogram wheat product (WFP) among different provinces: the WFP is low in the provinces in and around the Huang–Huai–Hai Plain, while it is relatively high in the provinces south of the Yangtze River and in northwestern China. The major portion of WF (80.9%) comes from irrigated farmland, and the remaining 19.1% is rainfed. Green water dominates the area south of the Yangtze River, whereas low green water proportions are found in the provinces located in northern China, especially northwestern China. The national TWU and total water use of the per-kilogram wheat product (TWUP) are 142.5 Gm3 and 1.237 m3 kg−1, respectively, containing approximately 21.7% blue water percolation (BWp). The values of WFP for irrigated (WFPI) and rainfed (WFPR) crops are 0.911 and 1.202 m3 kg−1, respectively. Irrigation plays an important role in food production, promoting the wheat yield by 170% and reducing the WFP by 24% compared to those of rainfed wheat production. Due to the low irrigation efficiency, more water is needed per kilogram in irrigated farmland in many arid regions, such as the Xinjiang, Ningxia and Gansu Provinces. We divided the 30 provinces of China into three categories according to the relationship between the TWUPI (TWU for per-unit product in irrigated farmland) and TWUPR (TWU for per-unit product in rainfed farmland): (I) TWUPI < TWUPR, (II) TWUPI = TWUPR, and (III) TWUPI > TWUPR. Category II, which contains the major wheat-producing areas in the North China Plain, produces nearly 75% of the wheat of China. The double benefits of conserving water and promoting production can be achieved by irrigating wheat in Category I provinces. Nevertheless, the provinces in this category produce only 1.1% of the national wheat yield.

Water Footprint

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maite M. Aldaya ◽  
M. Ramón Llamas ◽  
Arjen Y. Hoekstra
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Blue Water

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. Please check back later for the full article. The water footprint concept broadens the scope of traditional national and corporate water accounting as it has been previously known. It highlights the ways in which water consuming and polluting activities relate to the structure of the global economy, opening a window of opportunity to increase transparency and improve water management along whole-production and supply chains. This concept adds a new dimension to integrated water resources management in a globalized world. The water footprint is a relatively recent indicator. Created in 2002, it aims to quantify the effect of consumption and trade on the use of water resources. Specifically, the water footprint is an indicator of freshwater use that considers both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer. For instance, the water footprint of a product refers to the volume of freshwater used to produce the product, tracing the origin of raw material and ingredients along their respective supply chains. This novel indirect component of water use in supply chains is, in many cases, the greatest share of water use, for example, in the food and beverage sector and the apparel industry. Water footprint assessment shows the full water balance, with water consumption and pollution components specified geographically and temporally and with water consumption specified by type of source (e.g., rainwater, groundwater, or surface water). It introduces three components: 1. The blue water footprint refers to the consumption of blue water resources (i.e., surface and groundwater including natural freshwater lakes, manmade reservoirs, rivers, and aquifers) along the supply chain of a product, versus the traditional and restricted water withdrawal measure. 2. The green water footprint refers to consumption through transpiration or evaporation of green water resources (i.e., soilwater originating from rainwater). Green water maintains natural vegetation (e.g., forests, meadows, scrubland, tundra) and rain-fed agriculture, yet plays an important role in most irrigated agriculture as well. Importantly, this kind of water is not quantified in most traditional agricultural water use analyses. 3. The grey water footprint refers to pollution and is defined as the volume of freshwater that is required to assimilate the load of pollutants given natural concentrations for naturally occurring substances and existing ambient water-quality standards. The water footprint concept has been incorporated into public policies and international standards. In 2011, the Water Footprint Network adopted the Water Footprint Assessment Manual, which provides a standardized method and guidelines. In 2014, the International Organization for Standardization adopted a life cycle-based ISO 14046 standard for the water footprint; it offers guidelines to integrate water footprint analysis in life-cycle assessment for products. In practice, water footprint assessment generally results in increased awareness of critical elements in a supply chain, such as hotspots that deserve most attention, and what can be done to improve water management in those hotspots. Water footprint assessment, including the estimation of virtual water trade, applied in different countries and contexts, is producing new data and bringing larger perspectives that, in many cases, lead to a better understanding of the drivers behind water scarcity.

scholarly journals A Site-sPecific Agricultural water Requirement and footprint Estimator (SPARE:WATER 1.0)

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1043-1059 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Multsch ◽  
Y. A. Al-Rumaikhani ◽  
H.-G. Frede ◽  
L. Breuer
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Agricultural Water ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Grey Water ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Irrigation Methods

Abstract. The agricultural water footprint addresses the quantification of water consumption in agriculture, whereby three types of water to grow crops are considered, namely green water (consumed rainfall), blue water (irrigation from surface or groundwater) and grey water (water needed to dilute pollutants). By considering site-specific properties when calculating the crop water footprint, this methodology can be used to support decision making in the agricultural sector on local to regional scale. We therefore developed the spatial decision support system SPARE:WATER that allows us to quantify green, blue and grey water footprints on regional scale. SPARE:WATER is programmed in VB.NET, with geographic information system functionality implemented by the MapWinGIS library. Water requirements and water footprints are assessed on a grid basis and can then be aggregated for spatial entities such as political boundaries, catchments or irrigation districts. We assume inefficient irrigation methods rather than optimal conditions to account for irrigation methods with efficiencies other than 100%. Furthermore, grey water is defined as the water needed to leach out salt from the rooting zone in order to maintain soil quality, an important management task in irrigation agriculture. Apart from a thorough representation of the modelling concept, we provide a proof of concept where we assess the agricultural water footprint of Saudi Arabia. The entire water footprint is 17.0 km3 yr−1 for 2008, with a blue water dominance of 86%. Using SPARE:WATER we are able to delineate regional hot spots as well as crop types with large water footprints, e.g. sesame or dates. Results differ from previous studies of national-scale resolution, underlining the need for regional estimation of crop water footprints.

scholarly journals Assessing water footprint of wheat production in China using a crop-model-coupled-statistics approach

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 555-591
Author(s):  
X. C. Cao ◽  
P. T. Wu ◽  
Y. B. Wang ◽  
X. N. Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
North China ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Crop Model ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Crop Evapotranspiration ◽  
Wheat Production ◽  
The North

Abstract. The aim of this study is to estimate the green and blue water footprint of wheat, distinguishing the irrigated and rain-fed crop, from a production perspective. The assessment herein focuses on China and improves upon earlier research by taking a crop-model-coupled-statistics approach to estimate the water footprint of the crop in 30 provinces. We have calculated the water footprint at regional scale based on the actual data collected from 442 typical irrigation districts. Crop evapotranspiration and the water conveyance loss are both considered in calculating irrigated water footprint at the regional scale. We have also compared water footprint of per unit product between irrigated and rain-fed crops and analyzed the relationship between promoting yield and saving water resources. The national wheat production in the year 2010 takes about 142.5 billion cubic meters of water. The major portion of WF (80.9%) comes from the irrigated farmland and the remaining 19.1% falls into the rain-fed. Green water (50.3%) and blue water (49.7%) carry almost equal shares of water footprint (WF) in total cropland WF. Green water dominates the south of the Yangtze River, whereas low green water proportions relate themselves to the provinces located in the north China especially northwest China. Approximately 38.5% of the water footprint related to the production of wheat is not consumed in the form of crop evapotranspiration but of conveyance loss during irrigation process. Proportions of blue water for conveyance loss (BWCL) in the arid Xinjiang, Ningxia and Neimenggu (Inner Mongolia) exceed 40% due to low irrigation efficiency. The national average water footprint of wheat per unit of crop (WFP) is 1.237 m3 kg−1 in 2010. There exists a big difference in WFP among provinces. Compared to the rain-fed cultivation (with no irrigation), irrigation has promoted crop yield, both provincially and up by about 170% nationally. As a result, more water resources are demanded in irrigated farmland for per kg of wheat production. WFP for irrigated (WFPI) and rain-fed (WFPR) crops are 1.246 and 1.202 m3 kg−1 respectively. We have divided the 30 provinces into three categories according to the relation between WFPI and WFPR: (I) WFPI < WFPR, (II) WFPI is equivalent to WFPR, and (III) WFPI > WFPR. Category II, which contains major wheat producing areas in the North China Plain, contribute nearly 75% of wheat production to the country. Provinces belonging to Category III have to invest 0.478 cubic meters of water in order to harvest 1 kg wheat product. Double benefits of saving water and promoting production can be achieved substantially by irrigating wheat in Category I provinces. Nevertheless, provinces in this category, which should have contributed more, are summed to produce only 1.1% of the national wheat production.

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