Water Footprint for Pulse, Cereal, and Oilseed Crops in Saskatchewan, Canada

Abstract

The water footprint (WF) of crop production is a friendly approach for the analysis of water resource consumption in agricultural production systems. This study assessed the inter-annual variability of the total WF of three types of main crops, namely, cereal (i.e., spring wheat and barley), oilseed (i.e., canola and sunflower) and pulse (i.e., lentils and chickpea), from the perspective of yield and protein. It also determined the major factors that influence the WFs in Saskatchewan province of Canada. Over the period of 1965–2014, the annual precipitation in Saskatchewan fluctuated considerably but increased slightly with time. The grain yield-based WF ranged between 1.08 and 1.80, 0.90 and 1.38, 1.71 and 2.58, 1.94 and 4.28, 1.47 and 2.37, and 1.39 and 1.79 m3 kg−1; whereas the protein yield-based WF ranged between 7.69 and 10.44, 8.27 and 16.47, 3.79 and 7.75, 4.86 and 11.17, 5.09 and 7.42, and 5.51 and 10.69 m3 kg−1 for spring wheat, barley, canola, sunflower, lentils, and chickpea, respectively. All the WFs of crops generally decreased with time, which could be attributed to precipitation factors. In addition, the scientific and technological progress and agricultural inputs also evidently influenced the grain yield-based WFs of all crops. Pulse crops had a higher grain yield-based WF (an average of 1.59 m3 kg−1 for pulse crops and 1.18 m3 kg−1 for cereal crops) but a lower protein yield-based WF (an average of 6.58 m3 kg−1 for pulse crops and 9.25 m3 kg−1 for cereal crops) than cereal crops. Under conditions of improved protein consumption and healthy living in the future, pulse crops may be a preferred crop.

Water footprint of yield protein content of twelve field crop species on a Hungarian crop site

“…It has been stated, that plants in general and cereals, within that wheat in particular have the smallest water footprint among live structures in agricultural production (MEKONNEN and HOEKSTRA 2010b). Similar statement could be derived from a Canadian study in relation with pulses and grain crops (DING et al 2018).…”

Photosynthesis – beyond the leaf

“…Interestingly, stomata have been found on both the adaxial and abaxial sides of glumes, lemma (Simkin et al, 2020) and bracts (Ding et al, 2018). Ding et al (2018) proposed that adaxial bract stomata facilitate CO 2 uptake from the respiring grain. Such amphistomaty could indicate stomata function to support both atmospheric CO 2 uptake from one side of the tissues and refixation of respiratory CO 2 uptake on the other.…”

LEGU-MED: Developing Biodiversity-Based Agriculture with Legume Cropping Systems in the Mediterranean Basin

“…In a recent study, the lentilwheat system produced the lowest carbon footprint at -552 kg CO 2 eq/ha [68]. Legume crops are well-suited to low moisture conditions due to their low protein yield-based water footprint (6.58 m 3 /kg pulse vs. 9.25 m 3 /kg cereal) [69]. The cultivation of legumes potentially reduces greenhouse gas emissions and supports biodiversity [70].…”