Abstract
A rapid development in economic sectors has induced the water depletion in most of the developing country, particularly for Malaysia. This study estimates the consumptive water use of cultivating 5 cash crops, i.e. cassava, maize, rice, sugarcane and sweet potato in Peninsular Malaysia. The consumptive water uses for cultivating these 5 crops was determined based on the CROPWAT 8.0 and Penman Monteith model. CROPWAT 8.0 model was used to compute the evapotranspiration and crop water requirement (effective rainfall and irrigation requirement) of the cash crops grown in Peninsular Malaysia from 2005-2013 (9 years). It was found that the green water uses for cultivating cassava, maize, paddy, sugarcane and sweet potato for Peninsular Malaysia is higher than the blue water use. In conclusion, water use for cultivating agricultural crops will accelerate the competition on the consumption of clean water with the other sectors. However, the availability of water resource in Peninsular Malaysia is sufficient to fulfil the demands for water at the present time.
Highlights
Water consumption has growing faster than the population growth [1]
It was found that rice cultivation in main season has the highest green water footprint (1536.60 m3/ton) compared to other selected cash crops cultivation in peninsular Malaysia, while sweet potato has the lowest green water footprint (409.52 m3/ton)
The highest blue water footprint was recorded for rice in off season (949.31 m3/ton), whereas the lowest blue water footprint was estimated for cassava with 40.07 m3/ton
Summary
Water consumption has growing faster than the population growth [1]. This continuous trend has led to an issue of water scarcity and it is estimated that about half of the world population will face problem accessing safe water supply to support their daily routine by year 2025 [1]. As in Malaysia, agriculture sector plays an important role in national economic development. It helps secure the national food security and arouses public incomes especially for people living in rural areas. Agriculture and livestock sub-sectors play an important role in ensuring Malaysian food security. For the past 50 years, the government has allocated billions of Ringgits to maximise Malaysian agriculture production [4]. Due to this scenario, farmers across the world including Malaysia have taken a step further in strengthening its food security
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