Water Footprint, Blue Water Scarcity, and Economic Water Productivity of Irrigated Crops in Peshawar Basin, Pakistan
Pakistan possesses the fourth largest irrigation network in the world, serving 20.2 million hectares of cultivated land. With an increasing irrigated area, Pakistan is short of freshwater resources and faces severe water scarcity and food security challenges. This is the first comprehensive study on...
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MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/9/1249 |
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| author | Tariq Khan Hamideh Nouri Martijn J. Booij Arjen Y. Hoekstra Hizbullah Khan Ihsan Ullah |
| author_facet | Tariq Khan Hamideh Nouri Martijn J. Booij Arjen Y. Hoekstra Hizbullah Khan Ihsan Ullah |
| author_sort | Tariq Khan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Pakistan possesses the fourth largest irrigation network in the world, serving 20.2 million hectares of cultivated land. With an increasing irrigated area, Pakistan is short of freshwater resources and faces severe water scarcity and food security challenges. This is the first comprehensive study on the water footprint (WF) of crop production in Peshawar Basin. WF is defined as the volume of freshwater required to produce goods and services. In this study, we assessed the blue and green water footprints (WFs) and annual blue and green water consumption of major crops (maize, rice, tobacco, wheat, barley, sugarcane, and sugar beet) in Peshawar Basin, Pakistan. The Global Water Footprint Assessment Standard (GWFAS) and AquaCrop model were used to model the daily WF of each crop from 1986 to 2015. In addition, the blue water scarcity, in the context of available surface water, and economic water productivity (EWP) of these crops were assessed. The 30 year average blue and green WFs of major crops revealed that maize had the highest blue and green WFs (7077 and 2744 m<sup>3</sup>/ton, respectively) and sugarcane had the lowest blue and green WFs (174 and 45 m<sup>3</sup>/ton, respectively). The average annual consumption of blue water by major crops in the basin was 1.9 billion m<sup>3</sup>, where 67% was used for sugarcane and maize, covering 48% of the cropland. The average annual consumption of green water was 1.0 billion m<sup>3</sup>, where 68% was used for wheat and sugarcane, covering 67% of the cropland. The WFs of all crops exceeded the global average. The results showed that annually the basin is supplied with 30 billion m<sup>3</sup> of freshwater. Annually, 3 billion m<sup>3</sup> of freshwater leaves the basin unutilized. The average annual blue water consumption by major crops is 31% of the total available surface water (6 billion m<sup>3</sup>) in the basin. Tobacco and sugar beet had the highest blue and green EWP while wheat and maize had the lowest. The findings of this study can help the water management authorities in formulating a comprehensive policy for efficient utilization of available water resources in Peshawar Basin. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:49:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b6b181ea415c4d469a8054f9c6d15fbd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:49:29Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-b6b181ea415c4d469a8054f9c6d15fbd2023-11-21T17:51:43ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412021-04-01139124910.3390/w13091249Water Footprint, Blue Water Scarcity, and Economic Water Productivity of Irrigated Crops in Peshawar Basin, PakistanTariq Khan0Hamideh Nouri1Martijn J. Booij2Arjen Y. Hoekstra3Hizbullah Khan4Ihsan Ullah5Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Haripur, Haripur 22620, PakistanDivision of Agronomy, University of Göttingen, Von-Siebold-Strasse 8, 37075 Göttingen, GermanyDepartment of Water Engineering and Management, Faculty of Engineering Technology, University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The NetherlandsDepartment of Water Engineering and Management, Faculty of Engineering Technology, University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The NetherlandsDepartment of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, PakistanDepartment of Geography, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, PakistanPakistan possesses the fourth largest irrigation network in the world, serving 20.2 million hectares of cultivated land. With an increasing irrigated area, Pakistan is short of freshwater resources and faces severe water scarcity and food security challenges. This is the first comprehensive study on the water footprint (WF) of crop production in Peshawar Basin. WF is defined as the volume of freshwater required to produce goods and services. In this study, we assessed the blue and green water footprints (WFs) and annual blue and green water consumption of major crops (maize, rice, tobacco, wheat, barley, sugarcane, and sugar beet) in Peshawar Basin, Pakistan. The Global Water Footprint Assessment Standard (GWFAS) and AquaCrop model were used to model the daily WF of each crop from 1986 to 2015. In addition, the blue water scarcity, in the context of available surface water, and economic water productivity (EWP) of these crops were assessed. The 30 year average blue and green WFs of major crops revealed that maize had the highest blue and green WFs (7077 and 2744 m<sup>3</sup>/ton, respectively) and sugarcane had the lowest blue and green WFs (174 and 45 m<sup>3</sup>/ton, respectively). The average annual consumption of blue water by major crops in the basin was 1.9 billion m<sup>3</sup>, where 67% was used for sugarcane and maize, covering 48% of the cropland. The average annual consumption of green water was 1.0 billion m<sup>3</sup>, where 68% was used for wheat and sugarcane, covering 67% of the cropland. The WFs of all crops exceeded the global average. The results showed that annually the basin is supplied with 30 billion m<sup>3</sup> of freshwater. Annually, 3 billion m<sup>3</sup> of freshwater leaves the basin unutilized. The average annual blue water consumption by major crops is 31% of the total available surface water (6 billion m<sup>3</sup>) in the basin. Tobacco and sugar beet had the highest blue and green EWP while wheat and maize had the lowest. The findings of this study can help the water management authorities in formulating a comprehensive policy for efficient utilization of available water resources in Peshawar Basin.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/9/1249green water footprintblue water footprintcanal irrigated cropswater scarcityeconomic water productivityPakistan |
| spellingShingle | Tariq Khan Hamideh Nouri Martijn J. Booij Arjen Y. Hoekstra Hizbullah Khan Ihsan Ullah Water Footprint, Blue Water Scarcity, and Economic Water Productivity of Irrigated Crops in Peshawar Basin, Pakistan Water green water footprint blue water footprint canal irrigated crops water scarcity economic water productivity Pakistan |
| title | Water Footprint, Blue Water Scarcity, and Economic Water Productivity of Irrigated Crops in Peshawar Basin, Pakistan |
| title_full | Water Footprint, Blue Water Scarcity, and Economic Water Productivity of Irrigated Crops in Peshawar Basin, Pakistan |
| title_fullStr | Water Footprint, Blue Water Scarcity, and Economic Water Productivity of Irrigated Crops in Peshawar Basin, Pakistan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Water Footprint, Blue Water Scarcity, and Economic Water Productivity of Irrigated Crops in Peshawar Basin, Pakistan |
| title_short | Water Footprint, Blue Water Scarcity, and Economic Water Productivity of Irrigated Crops in Peshawar Basin, Pakistan |
| title_sort | water footprint blue water scarcity and economic water productivity of irrigated crops in peshawar basin pakistan |
| topic | green water footprint blue water footprint canal irrigated crops water scarcity economic water productivity Pakistan |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/9/1249 |
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