Spatial–Temporal Matching Characteristics between Agricultural Water and Land Resources in Ningxia, Northwest China

Hao Wang,Jie Du,Shuoyang Li,Guiyu Yang,Zhaohui Yang

doi:10.3390/w11071460

Abstract

Agricultural water and land resources are key elements of human production and their unbalanced distribution has threatened the sustainable development of agriculture and regional food security. This study is aiming to investigate the spatial–temporal changes of matching characteristics between agricultural water and land resources in Ningxia during 2007 to 2017. The agricultural irrigation water (AIW), farmland area (FA) and effective irrigated area (EIA) were selected as quantity parameters for agricultural water and land resource. Results show that the gravity centers of AIW and EIA both moved in the southeast direction, while the gravity center of FA moved northwestward, which indicated a better spatial matching degree between AIW and EIA. According to the Gini coefficient and total spatial mismatch index, the spatial mismatch between AIW and FA of Ningxia was remedied and that of AIW and EIA was worse. Counties with sufficient and insufficient AIW were distributed in the north and the south of Ningxia, respectively. The sensitivity of agricultural irrigation water to land resources remarkably increased in the study period, particularly for the counties in northern area of Ningxia. The findings may provide implications for effective management of regional agricultural water and land resources.

Highlights

Agricultural water resources and land resources are the two most fundamental resources for humans around the world
The sensitivity of agricultural irrigation water to land resources remarkably increased in the study period, for the counties in northern area of Ningxia
The data of farmland area, effective irrigated area and agricultural irrigation water consumption data of all counties and districts were obtained from the Ningxia Water Conservancy Statistical Bulletin, Ningxia

Summary

Introduction

Agricultural water resources and land resources are the two most fundamental resources for humans around the world. The global per capita agricultural land is only about 0.7 hectares, accounting for 37.9% of the world’s per capita land area [1]. As an important tool of achieving world food security, accounts for 20% of the total cultivated land and 40% of global agricultural productivity [2]. Under the impacts of climate change and land use change, the whole world will have more dependence on agricultural irrigation in the future [3]. Environmental contamination, climate change and other factors [4,5], land resources and freshwater resources are becoming scarcer, which means a rising competition between agricultural, industrial and urban construction [6].

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Conclusion