Agricultural Water Use Efficiency: Is There Any Spatial Correlation between Different Regions?

Yanling Zhi,Jinle Kang,Jinping Tong,Zhiqiang Wang,Ting Wang,Zhou Fang,Huimin Wang,Teng Qin,Fan Zhang

doi:10.3390/land11010077

Abstract

Affected by global climate change and water shortages, food security continues to be challenged. Improving agricultural water use efficiency is essential to guarantee food security. China has been suffering from water scarcity for a long time, and insufficient water supply in the agricultural sector has seriously threatened regional food security and sustainable development. This study adopted the super-efficiency slack-based model (SBM) to measure the provincial agricultural water use efficiency (AWUE). Then, we applied the vector autoregression (VAR) Granger causality test and social network analysis (SNA) method to explore the spatial correlation of AWUE between different provinces and reveal the interprovincial transmission mechanism of spillover effects in AWUE. The results show the following: (1) In China, the provincial AWUE was significantly enhanced, and the gaps in provincial AWUE have widened in the past 20 years. (2) There were apparent spatial heterogeneity and correlations of provincial AWUE. The provinces with higher AWUE were mainly located in economically developed and coastal areas. (3) The correlation of AWUE between provinces showed significant network structure characteristics. Fujian, Hebei, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Hubei Qinghai were central to the network, with high centrality. (4) The AWUE spatial correlation network could be divided into four blocks. Each block played a different role in the cross-provincial transmission of spillover effects. Therefore, it is necessary to manage the agricultural water resources and improve water use efficiency from the perspective of the network.

Highlights

Water is indispensable and irreplaceable for human well-being and socio-economic sustainability
The recent literature demonstrates that nearly half of the global population faces severe water scarcity, which directly conflicts with the above Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [4]
By comparing the point centrality, betweenness centrality, and closeness centrality of the spatial correlation network of agricultural water use efficiency (AWUE) in China, we found that Fujian, Hebei, Jiangsu, Shandong, Guizhou, and Qinghai had high point centrality, centrality, and closeness centrality at the same time

Summary

Introduction

Water is indispensable and irreplaceable for human well-being and socio-economic sustainability. Due to the rising water demands associated with population growth and economic development, coupled with diminishing water supplies caused by climate change and contamination, water is becoming scarce in most regions of the world [2,3]. Backward agricultural irrigation technology, extensive water use patterns, and low water use efficiency have further intensified water scarcity [7]. Sustainable agricultural water resource management is related to regional food security and closely linked to economic development, ecological security, and quality of life [8,9]. Evaluating and improving agricultural water use efficiency (AWUE) are the basis for promoting regional water resource management [11,12]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion