Less water, more grain in dry Hebei Province, China

Abstract

Correlation analysis and a water productivity indicator are used to investigate the inverse relationship between increasing grain output and declining irrigation water use in Hebei Province, People's Republic of China, especially since 2003. A rapid improvement in water productivity more than offset the decline in available water even in one of the most water-stressed areas of north China. As long as this trend continues, there is little need for concern about a grain production crisis induced by water shortage.

Keywords:

• grain output
• irrigation water use
• water productivity
• Hebei Province
• food security

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Sciences Fund of China (40971298) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX1-YW-08-03-03).

Notes

1. “Effectively irrigated area” is an official category that corresponds roughly to the command area of water facilities. It does not measure the actual area watered in any given period, but is used here as the most common and standardized measure of irrigated area.