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Assessing variation and driving factors of the county-scale water footprint for soybean production in China

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Listed:
  • Zhao, Jiongchao
  • Han, Tong
  • Wang, Chong
  • Shi, Xiaoyu
  • Wang, Kaicheng
  • Zhao, Mingyu
  • Chen, Fu
  • Chu, Qingquan

Abstract

Water scarcity and food security are major challenges facing the world in the 21st century. The water footprint provides a new and comprehensive approach for understanding the relationship between crop production and water utilization, and it has been used to estimate the water consumption of most crops at global and regional scales. However, the water footprint of soybean production (WFP) in China has not been extensively studied. Here, this study investigated firstly the components, spatial-temporal variation, as well as the driving factors of the county-scale WFP during the period of 1985–2015 in China. Annual WFP first increased and then decreased from 26.86 G m3 (109 m3) in 1985–24.62 G m3 in 2015. The WFP exhibited a clustered spatial distribution across the entire study area, and high-value areas for WFP were mainly distributed in the Northeast, North-central, and Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River Regions. The spatial distribution of WFP at the county level tends to be dispersed in studied period. The proportion of green water footprint (WFPgreen) reached as high as 70% of the WFP, whereas it decreased in the northern areas accompanied by the increased WFPblue proportion. Soybean yield was the major factor affecting WFP, and the increase in soybean yield contributed to the 32.80% decrease in the water footprint per ton soybean over the entire study period, further saved the 50.75 G m3 water resource for national soybean production in 2015. The results of this study provide new insights that could be used to improve agricultural water management, optimize regional water resource allocation, and alleviate water shortages in China.

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  • Zhao, Jiongchao & Han, Tong & Wang, Chong & Shi, Xiaoyu & Wang, Kaicheng & Zhao, Mingyu & Chen, Fu & Chu, Qingquan, 2022. "Assessing variation and driving factors of the county-scale water footprint for soybean production in China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:263:y:2022:i:c:s0378377422000166
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2022.107469
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