Agricultural water and carbon footprint driving mechanisms at the household scale in North China Plain

Abstract

AbstractThe North China Plain (NCP) is dominated by intensive household agriculture, and household plays a decisive role in agricultural development. Studying the factors of agricultural water consumption and carbon emissions at the household scale can help solve the problems of agricultural water scarcity and greenhouse gases excessive emissions. This study investigates the agricultural production scenarios of 590 households in the NCP and calculates the household's agricultural water footprint (WF) and carbon footprint (CF). The driving mechanisms of the WF and CF are analysed by a two‐layer, multilevel linear statistical model. The results show that agricultural production conditions will affect a household's WF and CF; family labour and the economy will affect a user's willingness to adopt agricultural water‐saving technology. The results of this study can serve as a reference for the sustainable management of groundwater resources and emissions reductions.