What Caused the Irrigation Water Use Rebound in Northwest China?

• Published in: Guanʻgai paishui xuebao Vol. 40; no. 8; pp. 129 - 135
• Main Authors: ZHANG Huiru, XU Hang, SONG Jianfeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Chinese
• Published: Science Press 01.08.2021
• Subjects: agricultural irrigation; five provinces in northwest of china; irrigation water use rebound; water-saving policies
• ISSN: 1672-3317
• DOI: 10.13522/j.cnki.ggps.2020416

【Background】 Agriculture is the largest water-use sector in China and reducing agricultural water use is hence critical to ameliorating the impact induced by water shortage and sustaining its economic development. One problem facing implementation of water-saving irrigation and other agronomic practices is that these technologies might fail to meet the designed targets, resulting in what is called “irrigation water use rebound”. 【Objective】 This paper aims to examine the factors behind the irrigation water use rebound with a view to providing guidance to help optimize water resource allocation and sustain water utilization in implementing water-saving policies. 【Method】 The analysis was based on an agricultural production function by integrating irrigation water use with other factors including agricultural production technologies and labor input. We then build a benchmark platform comprising pooled regression model, determinant effect model, random effect model, and binary choice model to analyze the factors