Profitability and Water Productivity of Groundwater Use in the Agricultural Production of Irrigation Districts A Case Study of the Yellow River Diversion Districts in Kaifeng,Henan,China

摘要

Face of growing demand for water for non-agricultural uses-industry,domestic,and hydropower-China has been adopting a range of water saving irrigation practices.Agricultural water use is affected by the tendency that to shift irrigation water use for other non-agricultural sectors.In order to maintain irrigation water demand,more and more groundwater is abstracted in the irrigation district of the Yellow River water diversion.Is this policy sustainable? A study has been undertaken in China to identify the water saving practices and policies,and to examine the sustainability of groundwater use in the northern areas.The researchers from Wuhan University,China,the International Water Management Institute,the International Rice Research Institute,and experts from local organizations of Yellow River water diversion have conducted the study.This paper introduces part of the research results derived from the project. A first step in this study has been to design a questionnaire to survey the profitability and water productivity of groundwater use in the agricultural production of the irrigation districts in Kaifeng Prefecture.Then,the data are analyzed according to crops in the area.Based on these analyses,the profitability and water productivity of groundwater use in the agricultural production of the irrigation districts are studied.Through analysis of the inputs and outputs of the agricultural production,the profitability of the groundwater irrigation is studied and compared with that of surface water irrigation.We analyze the range of factors that may have contributed to water savings and gains in water productivity in the typical irrigation district to understand how these factors may play roles in the whole area of the Yellow River diversion districts.As our study proceeds we hope to identify more clearly the relative importance of the various factors and some management strategies can be presented to the water managers to improve irrigation efficiency in their districts.