Water resources conservation and nitrogen pollution reduction under global food trade and agricultural intensification

Liu, Wenfeng1; Yang, Hong1,2; Liu, Yu3,4; Kummu, Matti5; Hoekstra, Arjen Y.6,7; Liu, Junguo8; Schulin, Rainer9

2018-08-15

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.306

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT   影响因子和分区

0048-9697

1879-1026

Global food trade entails virtual flows of agricultural resources and pollution across countries. Here we performed a global-scale assessment of impacts of international food trade on blue water use, total water use, and nitrogen (N) inputs and on N losses in maize, rice, and wheat production. We simulated baseline conditions for the year 2000 and explored the impacts of an agricultural intensification scenario, in which low-input countries increase N and irrigation inputs to a greater extent than high-input countries. We combined a crop model with the Global Trade Analysis Project model. Results show that food exports generally occurred from regions with lower water and N use intensities, defined here as water and N uses in relation to crop yields, to regions with higher resources use intensities. Globally, food trade thus conserved a large amount of water resources and N applications, and also substantially reduced N losses. The trade-related conservation in blue water use reached 85 km(3) y(-1), accounting for more than half of total blue water use for producing the three crops. Food exported from the USA contributed the largest proportion of global water and N conservation as well as N loss reduction, but also led to substantial export-associated N losses in the country itself. Under the intensification scenario, the converging water and N use intensities across countries result in a more balanced world; crop trade will generally decrease, and global water resources conservation and N pollution reduction associated with the trade will reduce accordingly. The study provides useful information to understand the implications of agricultural intensification for international crop trade, crop water use and N pollution patterns in the world. (c) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Food trade Water resources conservation Nitrogen pollution reduction Agricultural intensification PEPIC GTAP

SCI ; EI

英语

其他

National Natural Science Foundation of China[41571022]

Environmental Sciences & Ecology

Environmental Sciences

WOS:000432475300153

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

20181504993586

Commerce ; Crops ; Natural resources management ; Nitrogen ; Water conservation ; Water pollution

Water Resources:444 ; Water Pollution:453 ; Chemical Products Generally:804 ; Agricultural Products:821.4

ENVIRONMENT/ECOLOGY

Web of Science

1.Eawag, Swiss Fed Inst Aquat Sci & Technol, Ueberlandstr 133, CH-8600 Dubendorf, Switzerland
2.Univ Basel, Dept Environm Sci, MGU, Peterspl 1, CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland
3.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Sci & Dev, Beijing 100190, Peoples R China
4.Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Sch Publ Policy & Management, Beijing 100049, Peoples R China
5.Aalto Univ, Water & Dev Res Grp, Tietotie 1E, Espoo 02150, Finland
6.Univ Twente, Twente Water Ctr, Enschede, Netherlands
7.Natl Univ Singapore, Inst Water Policy, Lee Kuan Yew Sch Publ Policy, Singapore, Singapore
8.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Sch Environm Sci & Engn, Guangdong Prov Key Lab Soil & Groundwater Pollut, Shenzhen, Peoples R China
9.ETH, Inst Terr Ecosyst, Univ Str 16, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland

Liu, Wenfeng,Yang, Hong,Liu, Yu,et al. Water resources conservation and nitrogen pollution reduction under global food trade and agricultural intensification[J]. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT,2018,633:1591-1601.

Liu, Wenfeng.,Yang, Hong.,Liu, Yu.,Kummu, Matti.,Hoekstra, Arjen Y..,...&Schulin, Rainer.(2018).Water resources conservation and nitrogen pollution reduction under global food trade and agricultural intensification.SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT,633,1591-1601.

Liu, Wenfeng,et al."Water resources conservation and nitrogen pollution reduction under global food trade and agricultural intensification".SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 633(2018):1591-1601.