Comprehensive multi-objective evaluation of water-saving,high-efficiency cropping systems in the North China Plain
LIU Yi
SUN Hongyong
XU Hongbin
ZENG Linghai
DAI Jing
DONG Xinliang
WANG Jintao
Abstract：[Objective]Excessive groundwater extraction in the North China Plain(NCP)has triggered serious ecological concerns,jeopardizing the sustainability of regional agriculture.This study aims to identify optimal irrigation and cropping systems that curb groundwater overexploitation while maintaining high agricultural productivity.[Method]A multi-criteria framework,which integrates indicators including grain yield,groundwater overexploitation,evapotranspiration,water use efficiency,water footprint components(blue,green and grey),water productivity,and the proportions of beneficial,non-beneficial,and lost water,was established to evaluate the impact of the different combinations of irrigation and cropping systems on ecology and sustainability of agriculture in this region.Weighting methods including the analytic hierarchy process(AHP),the entropy weight method,and the random forest algorithm were used in the evaluations.Field experiments were conducted at the Nanpi Ecological Agriculture Experimental Station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences,which tested two irrigation strategies:irrigation in the critical period of crops and minimum irrigation(MI)for five cropping systems:rotation of winter wheat and summer maize,rotation of winter wheat,summer maize and spring maize(WMM),single winter wheat cropping,and single spring maize cropping.[Result]The combination of MI wand WMM ranked the highest in all evaluation criteria and weighting methods.MI and WMM combination achieved an average annual grain yield of 10 291.9 kg/hm2,groundwater overexploitation of 0.3 mm,evapotranspiration of 518.9 mm,and water use efficiency of 1.98 kg/m3.Its water footprint was 0.653 m3/kg,with 85.80％beneficial water use,3.88％water loss,and 14.20％non-beneficial water use;it its productivity was 1.78 kg/m3.[Conclusion]The MI and WMM combination offers a robust solution for balancing high crop yields with sustainable groundwater management in the NCP.Further improvements can be achieved by adopting high-yield and stress-tolerant crop varieties,optimizing sowing dates,planting density,and fertilization,and mechanizing maize harvesting.Cropping systems should also be adaptively managed based on groundwater ecology and regional development balance to ensure long-term agricultural and environmental sustainability.
Keywords：wheat and maizegroundwater overexploitationwater consumptionwater use efficiencywater footprint
Publication Date：2025-09-30
Online Publishing Date：2026-09-12(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：10( 27-36 )