Agricultural Water Management最新文献

{"title":"Modeling quinoa growth under saline and water-limiting conditions using SWAP-WOFOST","authors":"Diana C. Estrella Delgado ,&nbsp;Tom De Swaef ,&nbsp;Jan Vanderborght ,&nbsp;Eric Laloy ,&nbsp;Gerda Cnops ,&nbsp;Maarten De Boever ,&nbsp;Abdelaziz Hirich ,&nbsp;Ayoub El Mouttaqi ,&nbsp;Sarah Garré","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109356","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109356","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil salinization in arid and coastal areas poses a significant threat to crop production, which is further aggravated by climate change and the over-exploitation of aquifers. Cultivation of salt and drought-tolerant crops such as quinoa represents a promising adaptation pathway for agriculture in saline soils. Quinoa (<em>Chenopodium quinoa Willd.</em>) is a “salt-loving” plant, known for its tolerance to drought and salinity using complex stress responses. However, available models of quinoa growth are limited, particularly under salinity stress. The objective of this study was to calibrate the crop growth, and salinity and drought stress parameters of the SWAP – WOFOST model and evaluate whether this model can represent quinoa’s stress tolerance mechanisms. Field experimental data were used from two quinoa varieties: ICBA-Q5 grown under saline conditions in Laayoune, Morocco, in 2021, and Bastille grown under rainfed, non-saline conditions in Merelbeke, Belgium, from 2018 to 2023. Calibration and parameter uncertainty was performed using the DiffeRential Evolution Adaptive Metropolis (DREAMzs) algorithm on key parameters identified via sensitivity analysis using the Morris method. The resulting crop parameters provide insights into the stress tolerance mechanisms of quinoa, including reduction of transpiration and uptake of solutes. The salinity stress function of SWAP effectively represents these tolerance mechanisms and accurately predicts the impact on yield, under arid conditions. Under Northwestern European climate, the model replicates the impact of drought stress on yield. The calibrated model offers perspectives for evaluating practices to reduce soil salinization in arid conditions and for modeling crop performance under water-limited conditions or future salinization in temperate regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"309 ","pages":"Article 109356"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143350176","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Determining the optimal degradation rate of biodegradable films in a maize farmland based on the EWM-TOPSIS model","authors":"Wangwang Zhang ,&nbsp;Weishu Wang ,&nbsp;Yuanzheng Zhang ,&nbsp;Fangping Wang ,&nbsp;Shijun Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109359","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109359","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biodegradable film is considered a promising alternative to conventional plastic film in agriculture production. Differences in degradation rates result in varying effects on soil temperature and moisture, which directly affect crop growth and yield. However, studies on the effects of biodegradable films with different degradation rates on crop growth remain limited. To investigate these effects, a field experiment was conducted in 2019 and 2020, featuring three biodegradable films with degradation induction periods of 30 days (M1), 60 days (M2) and 90 days (M3), and a non-mulching control (CK). The results indicated that the degradation rates of the three films followed the expected order of M1 &gt; M2 &gt; M3, with final breakage rates of 27.23 %, 23.68 %, and 2.73 % in 2019, and 38.28 %, 28.63 %, and 7.39 % in 2020, respectively. Biodegradable film mulching increased average soil moisture, temperature, and the content of NO₃^–-N and NH₄⁺-N throughout the entire maize growth period. Due to its fastest degradation rate, M1 exhibited weaker warming and moisture-retention effects compared to M2 and M3. The favorable soil conditions created by biodegradable film mulching promoted maize growth, advanced the peak times of plant height and leaf area index, and increased maize yield. Compared to CK, M1, M2, and M3 increased maize yield by 12.96 %, 14.84 %, and 15.86 % in 2019, and 15.12 %, 16.29 %, and 15.91 % in 2020, respectively. Furthermore, biodegradable film mulching also increased maize water use efficiency and nitrogen partial factor productivity by reducing soil evaporation and increasing maize yield. The EWM-TOPSIS model ranked M2 as the optimal treatment for both years, followed by M1 and M3. This study provides valuable reference for determining biodegradable films with suitable degradation rates in the experimental region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"309 ","pages":"Article 109359"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143350174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of cover crops on phosphorus and trace metal leaching in agricultural soils","authors":"Vishawjot Sandhu ,&nbsp;Jasmeet Lamba ,&nbsp;Preetika Kaur ,&nbsp;Kritika Malhotra ,&nbsp;Thomas R. Way ,&nbsp;Kipling S. Balkcom ,&nbsp;Rishi Prasad","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109343","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109343","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil macropores can enhance the loss of phosphorus (P) and metals via preferential flow pathways in soils fertilized with broiler litter. Cover crops can enhance soil macropores and contribute to preferential flow pathways. Our objective was to determine the effect of cover crops on total P (TP), colloidal P (CP), dissolved reactive P (DRP), dissolved P (DP), total metals, dissolved metals, and colloidal metals in leachate from loamy sand soil cores consisting of soil macropores and fertilized with broiler litter. The cover crop, a mixture of cereal rye and crimson clover, was planted in the late fall in the field. The main crop, planted the following spring, was strip-tillage cotton. Following cotton harvest, intact undisturbed cylindrical soil cores (15 cm diameter and 50 cm depth) were collected from cover crop (CC) and no cover (NC) parts of the field. In the laboratory, for half of the leachate trials with the CC soil cores and half of those with the NC soil cores, we broadcasted broiler litter on the soil surface of the cores using a 10 Mg/ha application rate. For the other half of the trials with the CC cores and the other half with the NC cores, no litter was applied. Rainfall simulations were conducted on each core, and leachate was collected after it flowed down through each soil core. The leachates collected during the rainfall simulations were analyzed for TP, CP, DRP, DP, total metals, dissolved metals, and colloidal metals. The TP, CP, and DP concentrations were significantly greater from CC cores fertilized with broiler litter, than from NC cores fertilized with broiler litter. The mean leachate concentration of TP in soil cores fertilized with broiler litter was 4.07 and 1.54 mg L⁻¹ for CC and NC, respectively. Application of broiler litter resulted in CP loss, which was less than 10 % of TP. Similar trends were observed in dissolved and total trace metal losses. The preferential flow through soil macropores increased the mobility and velocity of solute movement in the cover cropping system.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"309 ","pages":"Article 109343"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143350309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating the impact of drought and water restrictions on agricultural production in irrigated areas through crop water productivity functions and a remote sensing-based evapotranspiration model","authors":"Joaquim Bellvert,&nbsp;Magí Pamies-Sans,&nbsp;Jaume Casadesús,&nbsp;Joan Girona","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109319","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109319","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In Mediterranean regions, climate change is leading to reduced precipitation, along with more frequent and severe droughts, and prolonged periods of water scarcity. In this context, as reservoir levels drop dramatically, some irrigated agricultural areas are compelled to impose water restrictions on farmers to enhance efficiency and protect crops. This study aims to evaluate the impact of varying levels of water restrictions on crop productivity across different crops, taking into account water allocation rights and the irrigation management practices of each irrigation district. Since crop yield is closely linked to the water used (crop actual evapotranspiration, <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>ETc</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>act</mi></mrow></msub></math></span>), this study proposes a novel approach based on using crop water productivity functions and a remote sensing-based surface energy balance model to spatially estimate <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>ETc</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>act</mi></mrow></msub></math></span>. The research was conducted across fourteen irrigation districts in Lleida and Girona, Spain, simulating six scenarios with different levels of precipitation and water rights reductions. The findings showed that reduced water availability significantly negatively affected both simulated evapotranspiration and crop yields across all districts, with variations between districts and crops. On average, yield reductions reached up to 18 % in Lleida and 16 % in Girona under the least restrictive scenarios, while more severe restrictions caused decreases of 48 % and 28 %, respectively. This approach offers valuable insights for water management agencies regarding the effects of water restrictions on crop yield losses, enabling them to make more informed decisions. Incorporating this methodology into emergency drought management plans is essential for fostering resilience in a changing climate.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"309 ","pages":"Article 109319"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143350175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prediction of drought-flood prone zones in inland mountainous regions under climate change with assessment and enhancement strategies for disaster resilience in high-standard farmland","authors":"Yongheng Shen,&nbsp;Qingxia Guo,&nbsp;Zhenghao Liu,&nbsp;Yanli Shen,&nbsp;Yikun Jia,&nbsp;Yuehan Wei","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109349","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109349","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Predicting drought and flood disaster-prone alternating zones and enhancing cropland disaster resilience are critical for agricultural water management, mitigating meteorological disaster risks, and ensuring food security. However, the spatial prediction of climate disaster vulnerability at the local scale faces challenges such as data gaps and insufficient resolution, which results in a lack of relevant research. This study uses a coupled model of particle swarm optimization (PSO), long short-term memory (LSTM), and graph attention network (GAT) integrating historical data to predict drought- and flood-prone areas in 2035 in Heshun County, Shanxi Province, a typical small-scale inland mountainous region of China. Additionally, the study assesses cropland resilience using the TOPSIS method, and based on the spatial distribution of drought and flood disasters, proposes a Flood-Drought-Resilience Analysis (FDRA) framework, further formulating a site selection strategy for future High Standard Farmland (HSF) projects. The overall findings indicate that: (1) Precipitation (Pr) and the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) have increased in recent years, with Pr expected to continue rising until 2035. (2) The integration of historical data with the predictions from the PSO-LSTM-GAT model reveals significant spatial overlap between historical and future disaster-prone areas and intensive cropland, especially in the central region. (3) Compared to single models, the PSO-LSTM-GAT model demonstrates significantly improved performance and precision in predicting drought- and flood-prone areas. (4) Through the FDRA integrated adjustment mechanism, 6.6668 km² of unsuitable land was identified, and 6.7349 km² of high-quality land was selected as the proposed site for the next round of HSF projects. In the final part of the study, management zoning plans were designed for other areas vulnerable to drought and flood disasters, and specific recommendations for enhancing cropland resilience were provided. This study provides a theoretical basis for enhancing agricultural disaster resilience and sustainable development in localized areas, offering scientific decision-making support for policymakers to address future climate change and disaster risks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"309 ","pages":"Article 109349"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143125223","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An “initial-engineering-end use” quasi-market pricing mechanism under cascading risk for cross-regional water rights trading","authors":"Xuxia Li ,&nbsp;Huimin Wang ,&nbsp;Gang Liu ,&nbsp;Liu Yang ,&nbsp;Zhou Fang ,&nbsp;Yi Xiao ,&nbsp;Xiaoying Lai ,&nbsp;Li Gao ,&nbsp;Ying Teng","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109329","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109329","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Water rights trading within a market economy has emerged as an effective solution for enhancing water use efficiency and addressing water scarcity. However, the development of a pricing mechanism that accounts for the spatial heterogeneity of water resources remains a critical challenge. This study proposes an “initial-engineering-end use” quasi-market pricing mechanism based on empirical research of cross-regional water rights trading in Pingxiang, Jiangxi, China. The mechanism comprises three stages, each designed to address specific risks. To support these stages, data from field studies is used to calibrate three unique pricing models: the stochastic differential game, incomplete contract theory, and the Nash-bargaining model. We analyze the interactions among equilibrium water prices across these stages to explore the cascade effects. In Pingxiang, the local government has successfully adopted and implemented this mechanism. Empirical results and practical applications reveal several key findings. (1) A comparative analysis of national governance across different countries indicates that the quasi-market pricing mechanism effectively determines end use water prices in China. (2) Initial corporate and government investments mitigate trading risks and enhance stability. (3) Overlooking ecosystem service value leads to the undervaluation of initial and end use water prices. (4) Practical applications of the proposed mechanism in Inner Mongolia, China, and the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia, demonstrate that end use water prices are generally higher in water-scarce regions. Overall, this study provides a practical and adaptable approach for pricing cross-regional water rights trading, applicable to both water-rich and water-scarce regions globally.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"309 ","pages":"Article 109329"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143125319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimizing water-use efficiency under elevated CO₂: A meta-analysis of crop type, soil modulation, and enrichment methods","authors":"Ali Mokhtar ,&nbsp;Hongming He ,&nbsp;Samar Attaher ,&nbsp;Ali Salem ,&nbsp;Muneer Alam","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109312","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109312","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Elevated CO2 (eCO2) significantly affect the carbon-water cycle in terrestrial ecosystems especially for gas exchange and water use efficiency (WUE). Therefore, in this study, we have conducted a meta-analysis to quantitative statistical means among studies and discuss how WUE responds to eCO₂ under pathway (C₃ and C₄), four enrichment methods and soil types based on 124 peer-reviewed studies and 1474 observations to provide an in-depth overview of how these factors interact under future CO₂ scenarios. Key findings reveal that: (1) C₃ crops, such as potato and tomato, show significantly greater increases in WUE compared to C₄ crops like maize, with effect sizes of 13.96 and 7.02 for plant-level WUE (WUEₚ), suggesting that C₃ crops may be more advantageous in water-limited environments due to reduced photorespiration under eCO₂; (2) soil type substantially modulates WUE responses, with clay soils, due to their high water-holding capacity, demonstrating the highest WUE enhancements (effect sizes of 7.87 for WUEₚ and 12.54 for yield WUE, WUEᵧ), while sandy soils, characterized by rapid drainage, showed limited improvements; and (3) greenhouse and growth chamber studies displayed the highest WUE improvements, while FACE experiments, which better replicate real-world conditions, indicated smaller WUE increases due to environmental variability, underscoring the need for a hybrid approach that merges controlled data with field insights to develop practical, water-efficient agricultural strategies. Collectively, these findings highlight the potential for crop- and soil-specific strategies to optimize WUE under elevated CO₂, offering valuable insights for sustainable agriculture and climate adaptation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"309 ","pages":"Article 109312"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143125224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The vulnerability of regional agriculture regarding irrigation water from the Tagus-Segura transfer","authors":"José Daniel Buendía Azorín ,&nbsp;Rubén Martínez Alpañez ,&nbsp;María del Mar Sánchez de la Vega","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109332","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109332","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Input–output tables provide a useful tool for analysing economic and environmental impacts, which has led to their extension beyond the national level to the regional level. The availability of the intermediate demand matrix allows for the extraction of income multipliers and employment multipliers to assess the environmental impacts of different economic activities. This can intuitively be expected to play an important role in economic growth and employment in many regions, and to allow for more precise policy decision-making and application in sustainable development strategies. Despite the relevance of these input-output tables at regional level, there is an almost total absence of official data in most countries. This has led to the development of regionalisation methodologies, among which are those based on the application of location quotients. In these methods, corrections are applied to the obtained variables that depend on the value given to certain unknown parameters. This paper use a proposal of a simple and efficient procedure for estimating these parameters from generally available information on road freight transport and goods imports from the rest of the world. Applying them to estimate the input-output matrix of the Region of Murcia (Spain) made it possible to measure the economic impact of the Tagus-Segura transfer and to assess the impact of a reduction in the volume of transferable water. A hybrid approach was applied to obtain the Bi-Regional Input-Output matrix, which combines pure non-survey methods with matrix-balancing methods. This study quantifies the total contribution (direct, indirect and induced) of the agricultural branches associated with the irrigation water of the Tagus-Segura transfer to the economic output of the Region of Murcia. In addition, it estimates that a 50 % reduction of the current transferable volume of water would reduce regional output, Gross Value Added and regional employment by 1.6 %, 1.5 % and 3.8 %, respectively.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"309 ","pages":"Article 109332"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143125284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Explore the evolution of winter wheat production and its response to climate change under varying precipitation years in the Loess Plateau of China","authors":"Donglin Wang ,&nbsp;Yanbin Li ,&nbsp;Binbin Zhang ,&nbsp;Tengcong Jiang ,&nbsp;Siyu Wu ,&nbsp;Wenjie Wu ,&nbsp;Yi Li ,&nbsp;Jianqiang He ,&nbsp;Deli Liu ,&nbsp;Qinge Dong ,&nbsp;Hao Feng","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109335","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109335","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Change of the spatio-temporal distribution of precipitation poses a significant impact on agricultural production in rain-fed areas of the Loess Plateau. The adaptation process and mechanism of winter wheat production to annual precipitation pattern remain unclear. To clarify the transformation process of precipitation and the mechanism how it change the crop yield, particularly in the Loess Plateau where precipitation frequently alternates between dry and wet years, this study used the down-scaling global climate model (GCMs) data to simulate and predict the change trend of winter wheat yield from 1961 to 2100 under varying precipitation conditions in two future climate scenarios (SSP245 and SSP585), employing the APSIM model. In this study, parameters of APSIM-Wheat model were refined based on experimental data. Time series analysis showed that the winter wheat yields in the Loess Plateau exhibit periodic fluctuation, with a shorter fluctuation period under the SSP245 scenario compared to the SSP585 scenario, indicating an overall upward trend. Specifically, the average growth rate of winter wheat yield was 147.2 kg ha⁻¹ decade⁻¹ under SSP245 and 194 kg ha⁻¹ decade⁻¹ under SSP585. In addition, climate change could marginally enhance yield stability, albeit with observed regional variations. Notably, potential yield in the water-restricted areas such as Qinghai are significantly influenced by precipitation. The predicted potential yield across three precipitation types showed that wet years exhibited the least fluctuation, while the highest fluctuation were observed in dry years. In particular, the potential winter wheat yield without irrigation in wet years and dry years was 19.84 % higher under SSP245 scenario and 25.22 % higher under SSP585 scenario compared with current conditions. This study provides an important reference for formulating long term adaptation strategies to enhance the resilience of agricultural production against climate change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"309 ","pages":"Article 109335"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143125113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Can a tiered water price policy improve the technical efficiency of crop irrigation for maize in the Heihe River Basin in Northwest China?","authors":"Guifang Li ,&nbsp;Dongdong Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109350","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109350","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agricultural water pricing reform is often considered one of the most effective tools for improving agricultural water use efficiency in China’s arid and semi-arid regions. However, the implementation effect of this policy remains to be studied. On the basis of farmer survey data in 2014 and 2019, this study takes typical irrigation districts in the Heihe River Basin (HRB) in Northwest China as the study area and measures the net effect of a tiered water price policy (TWPP) on the technical efficiency of crop irrigation (TECI) by constructing sub-vector data envelopment analysis (DEA) and difference-in-differences (DID) models. The results reveal that from 2014 to 2019, the average TECI for seed maize and field maize in the Plain Irrigation District (PID) increased by 0.1419 and 0.1242, respectively. Furthermore, compared with nonpilot villages, the implementation of the TWPP can significantly increase the TECI for seed maize and field maize in pilot villages by 16.24 % and 19.70 %, and this positive effect is significant at the 1 % and 5 % levels, respectively. Furthermore, for the pilot villages, the higher the water price borne by farmers is, the lower the TECI, indicating that compared with farmers who bear lower water prices, these farmers have excessive irrigation behaviour. Finally, it also found that compared with nonpilot villages, the TWPP helps seed maize and field maize via saving irrigation water in pilot villages by 27.56 % and 27.74 %, respectively.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7634,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Water Management","volume":"309 ","pages":"Article 109350"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143125322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}