IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i20p14951-d1261176.html

Analyzing the Drivers of Agricultural Irrigation Water Demand in Water-Scarce Areas: A Comparative Study of Two Regions with Different Levels of Irrigated Agricultural Development

Author

Listed:
  • Mengya Hua

    (State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China)

  • Yuyan Zhou

    (State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China)

  • Cailian Hao

    (Research Center for Strategy of Global Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of Geological Science, Beijing 100037, China)

  • Qiang Yan

    (Research Center for Strategy of Global Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of Geological Science, Beijing 100037, China)

Abstract

Both the demand for agricultural irrigation and the level of water-saving technology in water-scarce regions have met food demand with technological progress and economic growth. There are differences in irrigation water demand drivers in regions with different levels of irrigated agricultural development. However, the relationship between related drivers in response to regional irrigation water demand is not fully understood. This study quantified the driving influence of six indicators, including technological progress, planting structure, water conservation management, economic development, planting scale, and consumption intensity, on agricultural irrigation water demand in JC (Jinchang) and WW (Wuwei), two cities in the Shiyang River Basin, from 2011 to 2020. The results shows that economic development is the main driver of the increase in irrigation water demand, with 29% and 43% driving contributions in JC and WW, respectively. Consumption intensity contributes the most to the decrease in irrigation water demand, with 31% and 23% of driving contribution in JC and WW, respectively. Cropping size has a greater positive drive on irrigation water demand in non-agricultural areas relative to agricultural areas. Planting structure has a more pronounced negative drive on irrigation water demand in agricultural areas relative to non-agricultural areas. In particular, relative to irrigated areas, the proportion of water-saving irrigated areas to the sown areas has a greater impact on changes in irrigation water demand, with a significant rebound effect when it exceeds 80%, so that blindly expanding water-saving irrigated areas will drive an increase in irrigation water demand. The results of this study can provide useful suggestions for agricultural water management in water-scarce areas with different levels of water-saving irrigation development, and realize the sustainable development of agriculture in water-scarce areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Mengya Hua & Yuyan Zhou & Cailian Hao & Qiang Yan, 2023. "Analyzing the Drivers of Agricultural Irrigation Water Demand in Water-Scarce Areas: A Comparative Study of Two Regions with Different Levels of Irrigated Agricultural Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-14, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:20:p:14951-:d:1261176
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/20/14951/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/20/14951/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Shulin & Su, Xiaoling & Singh, Vijay P & Ayantobo, Olusola Olaitan & Xie, Juan, 2018. "Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) decomposition analysis of changes in agricultural water use: a case study of the middle reaches of the Heihe River basin, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 422-430.
    2. Weijing Ma & Lihong Meng & Feili Wei & Christian Opp & Dewei Yang, 2020. "Sensitive Factors Identification and Scenario Simulation of Water Demand in the Arid Agricultural Area Based on the Socio-Economic-Environment Nexus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-19, May.
    3. Zikang Xing & Miaomiao Ma & Yongqiang Wei & Xuejun Zhang & Zhongbo Yu & Peng Yi, 2020. "A new agricultural drought index considering the irrigation water demand and water supply availability," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 104(3), pages 2409-2429, December.
    4. Geng, Qingling & Zhao, Yongkun & Sun, Shikun & He, Xiaohui & Wang, Dong & Wu, Dingrong & Tian, Zhihui, 2023. "Spatio-temporal changes and its driving forces of irrigation water requirements for cotton in Xinjiang, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    5. Gajić, Boško & Kresović, Branka & Tapanarova, Angelina & Životić, Ljubomir & Todorović, Mladen, 2018. "Effect of irrigation regime on yield, harvest index and water productivity of soybean grown under different precipitation conditions in a temperate environment," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 224-231.
    6. Ang, B.W. & Liu, F.L., 2001. "A new energy decomposition method: perfect in decomposition and consistent in aggregation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 537-548.
    7. Mohammad Alghassab & Zafar A. Khan & Abdullah Altamimi & Muhammad Imran & Fahad F. Alruwaili, 2022. "Prospects of Hybrid Energy in Saudi Arabia, Exploring Irrigation Application in Shaqra," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-18, April.
    8. Bin Guo & Weihong Li & Jinyun Guo & Chuanfa Chen, 2015. "Risk Assessment of Regional Irrigation Water Demand and Supply in an Arid Inland River Basin of Northwestern China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-16, September.
    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. Jiayu He & Yayun Hu & Luocheng Shi & Haitao Wang & Yan Tong & Wen Dai & Mengmeng Zhang, 2025. "Spatio-Temporal Dynamics and Contributing Factors of Irrigation Water Use in the Loess Plateau," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-15, June.

    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. Mingsong Sun & Yutong Song, 2025. "Water peaking with a three‐pillar analysis in China: Exploring the interplay of resource utilization and industrial structure," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(4), pages 3354-3379, November.
    2. Xie, Rui & Wang, Fangfang & Chevallier, Julien & Zhu, Bangzhu & Zhao, Guomei, 2018. "Supply-side structural effects of air pollutant emissions in China: A comparative analysis," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 89-95.
    3. Liu, Yuqi & Wang, Yang & Šimůnek, Jirka & Liao, Renkuan, 2025. "An integrated data assimilation, crop modeling, and multi-objective optimization framework for improving cotton irrigation water use efficiency," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 319(C).
    4. Lu, I.J. & Lin, Sue J. & Lewis, Charles, 2007. "Decomposition and decoupling effects of carbon dioxide emission from highway transportation in Taiwan, Germany, Japan and South Korea," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 3226-3235, June.
    5. de Freitas, Luciano Charlita & Kaneko, Shinji, 2011. "Decomposition of CO2 emissions change from energy consumption in Brazil: Challenges and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1495-1504, March.
    6. repec:rza:wpaper:088 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Changfeng Shi & Hang Yuan & Qinghua Pang & Yangyang Zhang, 2020. "Research on the Decoupling of Water Resources Utilization and Agricultural Economic Development in Gansu Province from the Perspective of Water Footprint," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-16, August.
    8. Xuankai Deng & Yanhua Yu & Yanfang Liu, 2015. "Effect of Construction Land Expansion on Energy-Related Carbon Emissions: Empirical Analysis of China and Its Provinces from 2001 to 2011," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-22, June.
    9. Ma, Chunbo, 2014. "A multi-fuel, multi-sector and multi-region approach to index decomposition: An application to China's energy consumption 1995–2010," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 9-16.
    10. Donglan Zha & Qian Chen & Jaume Freire González, 2023. "The Gap between Expectations and Reality: Assessing the Water Rebound Effect in Chinese Agriculture," Working Papers 1415, Barcelona School of Economics.
    11. Abu Bakar, Nur Najihah & Hassan, Mohammad Yusri & Abdullah, Hayati & Rahman, Hasimah Abdul & Abdullah, Md Pauzi & Hussin, Faridah & Bandi, Masilah, 2015. "Energy efficiency index as an indicator for measuring building energy performance: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 1-11.
    12. Fernández-Amador, Octavio & Francois, Joseph F. & Oberdabernig, Doris A. & Tomberger, Patrick, 2023. "Energy footprints and the international trade network: A new dataset. Is the European Union doing it better?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    13. Zhao, Xiaoli & Li, Na & Ma, Chunbo, 2012. "Residential energy consumption in urban China: A decomposition analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 644-653.
    14. Sun, Xiaoqi & Liu, Xiaojia, 2020. "Decomposition analysis of debt’s impact on China’s energy consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    15. van Megen, Bram & Bürer, Meinrad & Patel, Martin K., 2019. "Comparing electricity consumption trends: A multilevel index decomposition analysis of the Genevan and Swiss economy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 1-25.
    16. Xiao, Hao & Sun, Ke-Juan & Bi, Hui-Min & Xue, Jin-Jun, 2019. "Changes in carbon intensity globally and in countries: Attribution and decomposition analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 1492-1504.
    17. Zhang, Chenjun & Wu, Yusi & Yu, Yu, 2020. "Spatial decomposition analysis of water intensity in China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    18. Muhammad, Shahbaz & Lean, Hooi Hooi & Muhammad, Shahbaz Shabbir, 2011. "Environmental Kuznets Curve and the role of energy consumption in Pakistan," MPRA Paper 34929, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 22 Nov 2011.
    19. Jidong Kang & Tao Zhao & Xiaosong Ren & Tao Lin, 2012. "Using decomposition analysis to evaluate the performance of China’s 30 provinces in CO 2 emission reductions over 2005–2009," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 64(2), pages 999-1013, November.
    20. Inglesi-Lotz, R. & Pouris, A., 2012. "Energy efficiency in South Africa: A decomposition exercise," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 113-120.
    21. Sijia Yang & Renjun Wang & Jianghua Zheng & Wanqiang Han & Jiantao Lu & Pengyu Zhao & Xurui Mao & Hong Fan, 2024. "Remote Sensing-Based Monitoring of Cotton Growth and Its Response to Meteorological Factors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-21, May.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:20:p:14951-:d:1261176. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.