IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agiwat/v241y2020ics0378377420310143.html

Misestimation of water saving in agricultural virtual water trade by not considering the role of irrigation

Author

Listed:
  • Cao, Xinchun
  • Cui, Simeng
  • Shu, Rui
  • Wu, Mengyang

Abstract

Water saving by agricultural virtual water trade (VWT) is regarded as a new way to address water shortage, and many studies have considered it at local and global scales. However, the existing calculation methods do not consider how agricultural products should be produced in export and import areas without crop trade. We believe that three facts related to irrigation should be considered in water saving in agricultural VWT evaluation: 1) arable land is highly restricted, 2) irrigation increases crop yield significantly, and 3) green water does not require cost. The role of irrigation, which is important for both the export and import region, is very important for determining how to cultivate crops without virtual water trade. In the case of grain VWT between Heilongjiang and Guangdong, China, the national blue water saving in 2010 with this consideration was −2562.1 Mm³ (water loss), whereas the figure was 975 Mm³ under the existing calculation framework. Therefore, there is a possibility that VWT can be used in agricultural development and water management decision-making while considering the role of irrigation.

Suggested Citation

  • Cao, Xinchun & Cui, Simeng & Shu, Rui & Wu, Mengyang, 2020. "Misestimation of water saving in agricultural virtual water trade by not considering the role of irrigation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:241:y:2020:i:c:s0378377420310143
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106355
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377420310143
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106355?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dalin, Carole & Qiu, Huanguang & Hanasaki, Naota & Mauzerall, Denise L. & Rodriguez-Iturbe, Ignacio, 2015. "Balancing water resources conservation and food security in China," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 62725, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Wu, X.D. & Guo, J.L. & Han, M.Y. & Chen, G.Q., 2018. "An overview of arable land use for the world economy: From source to sink via the global supply chain," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 201-214.
    3. Bazrafshan, Ommolbanin & Ramezani Etedali, Hadi & Gerkani Nezhad Moshizi, Zahra & Shamili, Mansoureh, 2019. "Virtual water trade and water footprint accounting of Saffron production in Iran," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 368-374.
    4. Cai, X. & Rosegrant, M. W., 2003. "World water productivity: current situation and future options," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.
    5. Aldaya, M.M. & Allan, J.A. & Hoekstra, A.Y., 2010. "Strategic importance of green water in international crop trade," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 887-894, February.
    6. repec:iwt:bosers:h032641 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Akoto-Danso, Edmund Kyei & Karg, Hanna & Drechsel, Pay & Nyarko, George & Buerkert, Andreas, 2019. "Virtual water flow in food trade systems of two West African cities," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 760-772.
    8. Bazrafshan, Ommolbanin & Zamani, Hossein & Ramezanietedli, Hadi & Gerkaninezhad Moshizi, Zahra & Shamili, Mansoureh & Ismaelpour, Yahya & Gholami, Hamid, 2020. "Improving water management in date palms using economic value of water footprint and virtual water trade concepts in Iran," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    9. Fu, YiCheng & Zhao, Jinyong & Wang, Chengli & Peng, Wenqi & Wang, Qi & Zhang, Chunling, 2018. "The virtual Water flow of crops between intraregional and interregional in mainland China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 204-213.
    10. Cao, Xinchun & Zeng, Wen & Wu, Mengyang & Guo, Xiangping & Wang, Weiguang, 2020. "Hybrid analytical framework for regional agricultural water resource utilization and efficiency evaluation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    11. Boelens, Rutgerd & Vos, Jeroen, 2012. "The danger of naturalizing water policy concepts: Water productivity and efficiency discourses from field irrigation to virtual water trade," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 16-26.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wu, Nan & Adamowski, Jan F. & Wu, Mengyang & Hua, En & Wang, Yubao & Sun, Shikun & Cao, Xinchun, 2025. "Assessing the real impact of inter-provincial grain trade on water and land resources within China via a modified framework," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    2. Mehran Hekmatnia & Ahmad Fatahi Ardakani & Amir Isanezhad & Hamidreza Monibi, 2024. "A novel classification of virtual water trade for the sustainability of global freshwater resources," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 7377-7408, March.
    3. Xiuli Liu & Rui Xiong & Pibin Guo & Lei Nie & Qinqin Shi & Wentao Li & Jing Cui, 2022. "Virtual Water Flow Pattern in the Yellow River Basin, China: An Analysis Based on a Multiregional Input–Output Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-24, June.
    4. Wang, Yayu & Muhammad, Tahir & Liu, Zeyuan & Liang, Hongbang & Wang, Xingpeng & Wang, Zhenhua & Ma, Changjian & Li, Yunkai, 2022. "Chelated copper reduces yet manganese fertilizer increases calcium-silica fouling in brackish water drip irrigation systems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    5. Xing, Shaobo & Du, Kexin & Liu, Ningning & Li, Miao & Wen, Yue & Juana, Luis & Sánchez, Raúl & Zhang, Jinzhu & Wang, Zhenhua, 2025. "Evaluation of the effects of dynamic pressure and emitter type on clogging in drip irrigation systems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    6. Lv, Chang & Zhang, Lixing & Liu, Rao & Wang, He & Niu, Wenquan & Mu, Fei & Wu, Menglong & You, Junting & Huang, Siying, 2025. "Performance of disc filters as affected by the use of mixed fertilizers supplying major nutrients during drip irrigation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    7. Cao, Xinchun & Li, Yueyao & Wu, Mengyang, 2022. "Irrigation water use and efficiency assessment coupling crop cultivation, commutation and consumption processes," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    8. Wang, Yayu & Muhammad, Tahir & Liu, Zeyuan & Ma, Changjian & Zhang, Changsheng & Wang, Zhenhua & He, Xin & Li, Yunkai, 2022. "Compounding with humic acid improved nutrient uniformity in drip fertigation system using brackish water: The perspective of emitter clogging," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gao, Jie & Xie, Pengxuan & Zhuo, La & Shang, Kehui & Ji, Xiangxiang & Wu, Pute, 2021. "Water footprints of irrigated crop production and meteorological driving factors at multiple temporal scales," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    2. Mehran Hekmatnia & Ahmad Fatahi Ardakani & Amir Isanezhad & Hamidreza Monibi, 2024. "A novel classification of virtual water trade for the sustainability of global freshwater resources," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 7377-7408, March.
    3. Shahla Dehghanpir & Ommolbanin Bazrafshan & Hadi Ramezani Etedali & Arashk Holisaz & Brian Collins, 2024. "Water scarcity assessment in Iran’s agricultural sector using the water footprint concept," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(11), pages 28995-29020, November.
    4. Sun, J.X. & Yin, Y.L. & Sun, S.K. & Wang, Y.B. & Yu, X. & Yan, K., 2021. "Review on research status of virtual water: The perspective of accounting methods, impact assessment and limitations," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    5. Cao, Xinchun & Bao, Yutong & Li, Yueyao & Li, Jianni & Wu, Mengyang, 2023. "Unravelling the effects of crop blue, green and grey virtual water flows on regional agricultural water footprint and scarcity," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    6. Cao, Xinchun & Li, Yueyao & Wu, Mengyang, 2022. "Irrigation water use and efficiency assessment coupling crop cultivation, commutation and consumption processes," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    7. Guangyao Deng & Liujuan Wang & Yanan Song, 2015. "Effect of Variation of Water-Use Efficiency on Structure of Virtual Water Trade - Analysis Based on Input–Output Model," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(8), pages 2947-2965, June.
    8. Li, Yilin & Chen, Bin & Li, Chaohui & Li, Zhi & Chen, Guoqian, 2020. "Energy perspective of Sino-US trade imbalance in global supply chains," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    9. Weijia Chen & Yongquan Lu & Guilin Liu, 2022. "Balancing cropland gain and desert vegetation loss: The key to rural revitalization in Xinjiang, China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 1122-1145, September.
    10. Mohammad Alauddin & Upali A. Amarasinghe & Bharat R. Sharma, 2014. "Four decades of rice water productivity in Bangladesh: A spatio-temporal analysis of district level panel data," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 51-64.
    11. Nazemi, Neda & Foley, Rider W. & Louis, Garrick & Keeler, Lauren Withycombe, 2020. "Divergent agricultural water governance scenarios: The case of Zayanderud basin, Iran," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    12. Yunfei Feng & Yi Zhang & Zhaodan Wu & Quanliang Ye & Xinchun Cao, 2023. "Evaluation of Agricultural Eco-Efficiency and Its Spatiotemporal Differentiation in China, Considering Green Water Consumption and Carbon Emissions Based on Undesired Dynamic SBM-DEA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-26, February.
    13. María Jesús Beltrán & Esther Velázquez, 2011. "Del metabolismo social al metabolismo hídrico," Documentos de Trabajo de la Asociación de Economía Ecológica en España 01_2011, Asociación de Economía Ecológica en España.
    14. S. Sunitha & A. U. Akash & M. N. Sheela & J. Suresh Kumar, 2024. "The water footprint of root and tuber crops," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 3021-3043, February.
    15. Muhammad Umar Hayyat & Rab Nawaz & Zafar Siddiq & Muhammad Bilal Shakoor & Maira Mushtaq & Sajid Rashid Ahmad & Shafaqat Ali & Afzal Hussain & Muhammad Atif Irshad & Abdulaziz Abdullah Alsahli & Moham, 2021. "Investigation of Lithium Application and Effect of Organic Matter on Soil Health," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-15, February.
    16. Franco-Solís, Alberto & Montanía, Claudia V., 2021. "Dynamics of deforestation worldwide: A structural decomposition analysis of agricultural land use in South America," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    17. Liu, Yansui & Zhou, Yang, 2021. "Reflections on China's food security and land use policy under rapid urbanization," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    18. Cheng, Mengyao & Wu, Jialu & Li, Chaohui & Jia, Yuanxin & Xia, Xiaohua, 2023. "Tele-connection of global agricultural land network: Incorporating complex network approach with multi-regional input-output analysis," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    19. Ruifan Xu & Jianzhong Gao, 2023. "Evolutionary Trends, Regional Differences and Influencing Factors of the Green Efficiency of Agricultural Water Use in China Based on WF-GTWR Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-24, January.
    20. Zhai, Yijie & Bai, Yueyang & Shen, Xiaoxu & Zhang, Tianzuo & Jia, Yuke & Ren, Ke & Zhou, Xinying & Cheng, Ziyue & Hong, Jinglan, 2023. "Provincial water availability footprint evaluation and transfer analysis of China’s grain products: A life cycle perspective," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:241:y:2020:i:c:s0378377420310143. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.