Analysis on Spatial Matching Patterns of Available Water Resources and Irrigated Arable Land in China

Abstract

【Background and Objective】 The balance between irrigated farmland and water resources for different regions influence agricultural development and food security. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the spatiotemporal balance between available water resources and irrigated farmland in China. 【Method】 The analysis was based on available water resources and spatial distribution of irrigated farmlands at basin scale. Their balance was calculated using available water resources per unit irrigated farmland and the Gini coefficient. We applied the model to analyze spatial variation in balance between available water resources and irrigated farmlands from 2009 to 2019. 【Result】 On average, the areas of irrigated farmlands decreased slightly from 2009 to 2019 in China, despite a dramatic increase in several provinces in the north of the country. The Gini coefficients of water resources and land resources varied from to 0.40 to 0.49, suggesting an imbalance, especially from 2016 to 2019. Spatially, there are significant differences in the balance. The number of provinces with imbalance and severe imbalance increased from 10 in 2009 to 11 in 2019, and most of them are in the northwest and north of China. 【Conclusion】 The imbalance between available water resources and irrigated farmlands, especially in the northwest and north of China, means that future development of arable lands needs to be based on water resources principle. To improve the balance, future efforts should focus on developing reserve arable land resources, saving water, changing agricultural structure and developing water diversion projects.

Keywords

• available water resources
• irrigated arable land
• gini coefficient
• matching of water and land resources