Implications of Water Use and Water Scarcity Footprint for Sustainable Rice Cultivation

Silalertruksa, Thapat; Gheewala, Shabbir H.; Mungkung, Rattanawan; Nilsalab, Pariyapat; Lecksiwilai, Naruetep; Sawaengsak, Wanchat

doi:10.3390/su9122283

Cited by 35 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the LCA approach, the irrigation water used to produce a specific product and the water stress index (WSI) of the watershed from where the irrigation water is withdrawn are used to assess the water use impact i.e. deprivation potential (Silalertruksa et al, 2017;Pfister et al, 2009). WSI is the ratio of the freshwater withdrawal on an annual basis to its availability within the basin (Pfister et al, 2009).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A review of two different methods for the estimation of water footprint of crops

Farooq¹,

Gheewala²,

Environment³

2019

BGSM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The rapid increase in world population has increased the demand of food and biofuels leading to stress on water resources and increase in competition between different sectors around the globe. Under the combined impacts of climate change, population growth, urbanization and economic development, the pressure on the water resources is continually increasing. Therefore, an appropriate approach is required for effective water accounting. Water footprint concept has been introduced to indicate the water use and impact of production systems on water resources. In this study, two different approaches for the estimation of water footprint of crops have been reviewed, i.e. the Water Footprint Network (WFN) approach and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). These approaches are used in many countries and numerical models have been developed to facilitate the calculations. By clarifying the concerns about water accounting, we identify that the main differing perspective between the WFN and LCA approaches is that LCA aims to account for the environmental impacts related to water resources, while WFN aims to account for water productivity of global fresh water as a limited resource. We conclude that the WFN approach could benefit from considering the impact assessment methodologies evolving within the LCA community and joint efforts could lead to some consensual metrics to better assess the sustainability of freshwater use.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The deprivation potential of water is an important tool to assess the water use impacts on human beings and ecosystems. The related water use impact is less with a lower value of water scarcity footprint and vice versa (Silalertruksa et al, 2017;Gheewala et al, 2017). The deprivation potential of water can be determined by using the Equation 6.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of two different methods for the estimation of water footprint of crops

Farooq¹,

Gheewala²,

Environment³

2019

BGSM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The water supplies of the rice field are from two sources, i.e., rainwater and irrigation water. According to a study by [12], in the Chao-praya river region, the rice yield of 1 kg requires the amount of rainwater and irrigation water for 1.08 liter and 0.35 liter respectively.…”

Section: Agricultural Usementioning

confidence: 99%

The Application of Water Footprint and Six-Sigma Method to Reduce the Water Consumption in an Organization

Kandananond¹

2019

GEOMATE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The water footprint is the virtual amount of water use related to different activities. Currently, the water scarcity and untreated water are the critical issues that many organizations have to deal with. In this study, the water consumption activities of a public organization are studied and assessed within the context of water footprints. Basically, the consumption in the target organization is categorized into three categories, domestic use, agricultural use and indirect use due to transportation and electricity. The study is not only limited to the blue and green but also grey water footprint as well. In order to efficiently tackle the problem, the six sigma method (DMAIC) was utilized as a guideline to reduce the water footprint systematically. Pareto diagram, types of footprints (blue, green and grey) and a feasibility study were utilized to select the critical sources of water consumption. There are two sources of water consumption identified as the primary target to improve. One is the polluted water caused by the fertilizer used in the experimental farm and another is the indirect water use regarding the fuel consumption of the vehicle fleet. The cause and effect diagram was applied to determine the potential cause which leads to the minimization of water consumption in both categories, water/green and grey water footprint. After the feasibility study was conducted, the results indicate that the fuel consumption in the University vehicle fleet is a potential target that the appropriate measure should be implemented. Another target is the polluted water caused by fertilizer use in the demonstration farm. Afterward, the improvement and control measures were recommended to the organization executives for a further implementation leading to reduce the water consumption and to maintain sustainability. Therefore, the amount of water consumption should be effectively reduced by integrating the method of water footprint and six-sigma.

show abstract

“…To accurately quantify the water consumption, the life cycle analysis (LCA) is used to analyze the water consumption related to each activity of the life cycle. Since the main water supply of rice is from two sources, rainwater and irrigation water, according to Silalertruksa et al [13], the relationship between rice yield and water use is shown in Table 1.…”

Section: Life Cycle Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

The Implementation of Life Cycle Analysis and Six Sigma Method to Achieve Sustainable Water Consumption in the Agricultural Sector

Kandananond

2018

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Generally, water is regarded as one of the most important resources in every aspect of life. The reduction of water consumption is a crucial issue for both business and environmental perspectives. This study focuses on the integration of life cycle analysis (LCA), six-sigma, and water footprint method to reduce the water consumption in the agricultural sector. The scenario utilized in this study is the water management in the rice production process. The life cycle analysis and water footprint are used to effectively quantify the water consumption of each production activity covering the analysis scope from cradle to gate. The analysis is based on the type of water footprints which are differentiated into green, blue, and grey. Green and blue water footprint are the rainwater and irrigation water required to grow paddy rice while grey water footprint is the amount of polluted water caused by the production. Afterwards, the main tool of six-sigma, DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, and control), is implemented to reduce the water footprint. The measurement stage shows that the proportion of water use falls in these categories, farm water (93.4665%), polluted water (6.4196%), transportation (0.1135%), and milling (0.0003%). Since rice is the semi-aquatic plant so the reduction of farm use water is likely to be impossible, the spotlight is on the polluted water accounted for the second highest water consumption and it is caused by the fertilizer use. Therefore, the cause-and-effect diagram deployed in the analyze phase points out that the utilization of the green manure from the cover crops should be used in conjunction with the tradition fertilizer use. In the improvement phase, after the intervention measure is implemented, through the simulated calculation, the experimental design method statistically shows that the amount of grey water footprint is significantly reduced. To ensure the sustainability of the improvement, the individual X control chart will be applied to monitor the value of grey water footprint in the control stage.

show abstract

Implications of Water Use and Water Scarcity Footprint for Sustainable Rice Cultivation

Cited by 35 publications

References 24 publications

A review of two different methods for the estimation of water footprint of crops

A review of two different methods for the estimation of water footprint of crops

The Application of Water Footprint and Six-Sigma Method to Reduce the Water Consumption in an Organization

The Implementation of Life Cycle Analysis and Six Sigma Method to Achieve Sustainable Water Consumption in the Agricultural Sector

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About