Water footprint of crop production for different crop structures  in the Hebei southern plain, North China

Ying-min, Chu; Shen, Yanjun; Yuan, Zaijian

doi:10.5194/hess-21-3061-2017

Cited by 47 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…We found that, although 2H1Y OPT increased grain yield (5.97%) and reduced N fertilizer (61.81%) as compared to 2H1Y FP , the 610 mm irrigation consumption is still high. The high water use in the double cropping system also reported by many other researchers [60][61][62]. Therefore, only N saving is unsustainable, because irrigation water is quite important factor in the crop production system.…”

Section: Effect Of Different Cropping Systems On Grain Yield Water Amentioning

confidence: 79%

Modeling Water and Nitrogen Balance of Different Cropping Systems in the North China Plain

Leghari

Liang

et al. 2019

Agronomy

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The North China Plain (NCP) is experiencing serious groundwater level decline and groundwater nitrate contamination due to excessive water pumping and application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer. In this study, grain yield, water and N use efficiencies under different cropping systems including two harvests in 1 year (winter wheat-summer maize) based on farmer (2H1Y) FP and optimized practices (2H1Y) OPT , three harvests in 2 years (winter wheat-summer maize-spring maize, 3H2Y), and one harvest in 1 year (spring maize, 1H1Y) were evaluated using the water-heat-carbon-nitrogen simulator (WHCNS) model. The 2H1Y FP system was maintained with 100% irrigation and fertilizer, while crop water requirement and N demand for other cropping systems were optimized and managed by soil testing. In addition, a scenario analysis was also performed under the interaction of linearly increasing and decreasing N rates, and irrigation levels.Results showed that the model performed well with simulated soil water content, soil N concentration, leaf area index, dry matter, and grain yield. Statistically acceptable ranges of root mean square error, Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency, index of agreement values close to 1, and strong correlation coefficients existed between simulated and observed values. We concluded that replacing the prevalent 2H1Y FP with 1H1Y would be ecofriendly at the cost of some grain yield decline. This cropping system had the highest average water use (2.1 kg m −3 ) and N use efficiencies (4.8 kg kg -1 ) on reduced water (56.64%) and N (81.36%) inputs than 2H1Y FP . Whereas 3H2Y showed insignificant results in terms of grain yield, and 2H1Y FP was unsustainable. The 2H1Y FP system consumed a total of 745 mm irrigation and 1100 kg N ha -1 in two years. When farming practices were optimized for two harvests in 1 year system (2H1Y) OPT , then grain yield improved and water (18.12%) plus N (61.82%) consumptions were minimized. There was an ample amount of N saved, but water conservation was still unsatisfactory. However, considering the results of scenario analyses, it is recommended that winter wheat would be cultivated at <200 mm irrigation by reducing one irrigation event.Since the 1970s, the annual use of the two-harvest cropping system greatly increased the total grain output. However, it has also caused severe groundwater decline [7,8], because both crops generally have high water requirements to complete their life cycle [9,10]. Crop water requirement does not meet the balance between groundwater recharge through rain and evapotranspiration (ET) loss from plant and soil [11]. An estimated amount of more than 450 mm yr −1 irrigation water is required to maintain high crop yield under the conventional double cropping system [12], which dominatingly depends on pumping of groundwater, and there is no access to irrigation from the river source. Thus, the groundwater is almost the only source of irrigation [13]. In the last 20 years, sustained water pumping has adversely affected aquifers. Consequently, the groundwater leve...

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Section: Effect Of Different Cropping Systems On Grain Yield Water Amentioning

confidence: 79%

Modeling Water and Nitrogen Balance of Different Cropping Systems in the North China Plain

Leghari

Liang

et al. 2019

Agronomy

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“…However, the water consumption values of different agricultural products strongly diverge, as shown in a comparison by Hoekstra and Mekonnen for crops and dairy products (Mekonnen and Hoekstra 2012a;Stoessel et al 2012). Specific attention should be devoted to agricultural products requiring high amounts of freshwater that are usually grown in water-scarce regions and/or seasons (Chapagain and Orr 2009;Chu et al 2017).…”

Section: High-priority Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organizational water footprint: a methodological guidance

Mikosch

Berger

Finkbeiner

2019

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Purpose This paper proposes a practical methodological approach to assess the water footprint at the organizational level, in line with the current development of life-cycle based approaches toward the organizational scale on the one hand and footprint metrics on the other hand. This methodological development allows for organizational water footprint applications intended to inform management decisions and to alleviate water-related environmental impacts throughout the supply chain. Methods ISO 14046, dedicated to water footprint with a major focus on products, and ISO/TS 14072 for organizational LCA (O-LCA) are compared. A set of indications to carry out an organizational water footprint is identified based on: the requirements common to water footprint and organizational LCA; complementary methodological elements specified in only one of the standards; solutions to issues identified as conflicting. Additional application guidance on data collection prioritization for organizational water scarcity footprint studies is delivered based on the review of existing organizational case studies and comparative product or commodity studies. Results and discussion O-LCA and water footprint provide complementary requirements for the scoping phase and the inventory and impact assessment phase respectively, according to the different methodological foci. We identify conflicting or contradictory requirements related to (i) comparisons, (ii) system boundary definition, and (iii) approaches to avoid allocation. We recommend (i) avoiding comparisons in organizational water footprint studies, (ii) defining two-dimensional system boundaries ("life-cycle dimension" and "organizational dimension"), and (iii) avoiding system expansion. Additionally, when carrying out a water scarcity footprint for organizations, we suggest prioritizing data collection for direct activities, freshwater extraction and discharge, purchased energy, metals, agricultural products and biofuels, and, if water or energy consuming, the use phase. Conclusions The standards comparison allowed compiling a set of requirements for organizational water footprints. Combined with the targeted guidance to facilitate data collection for water scarcity footprint studies, this work can facilitate assessing the water footprint of organizations throughout their supply chains.

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“…China is the largest consumer of the world's limited water resources, and the proportion of agricultural water in its total water consumption is greater than 70% [2,3]. Groundwater is an essential source for agricultural irrigation, accounting for nearly 10% in China [4,5]. In the vast land of Northwest China, there are numerous large and small oases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Optimization Method for the Layout of Pumping Wells in Oases: Application in the Qira Oasis, Northwest China

Liu

Shen

Zhao

et al. 2019

Water

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Oases are vital habitat areas for both humans and wild plants and animals in desert areas of arid Northwestern China. The efficient management of oasis water resources, especially groundwater resources, is very important for the environmental sustainability and economic development of the region. Pumping wells play a vital role in the oasis groundwater supply; therefore, optimizing the layout of these wells is essential for water resource management. In this study, we present a novel optimization methodology that implements a genetic algorithm and nonlinear programming model for the layout of pumping wells. The methodology was tested and evaluated in the real oasis case study of Qira Oasis located in southern Xinjiang Province, China. The optimization result shows that only 68 pumping wells are required for irrigation purposes of Qira Oasis, and this layout reduces the number of current pumping wells strongly by 59%. Thus, a large number of pumping wells can be closed to save resources. The optimizing method presented in this research is mathematically general and can be applied to other oasis areas without any obstacles. This method can provide decision-makers and managers with key information to ensure the optimal management and safety of valuable groundwater resources in oases.

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Water footprint of crop production for different crop structures in the Hebei southern plain, North China

Cited by 47 publications

References 31 publications

Modeling Water and Nitrogen Balance of Different Cropping Systems in the North China Plain

Modeling Water and Nitrogen Balance of Different Cropping Systems in the North China Plain

Organizational water footprint: a methodological guidance

A New Optimization Method for the Layout of Pumping Wells in Oases: Application in the Qira Oasis, Northwest China

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