Assessment of crop water footprints and their driving factors using the LMDI model
YANG Jiahui
ZHANG Chao
MA Xiaolei
WU Yingmei
Abstract：[Objective]With increasing water scarcity and growing demand for food,understanding agricultural water use has become critical for sustainable grain production.This paper proposes a method to study the spatiotemporal evolution of blue,green and grey water footprints of crop production,as well as their influencing factors,aiming to provide a framework to improve regional agricultural water allocation.[Method]The analysis was based on water footprint theory and the CROPWAT model,with Henan Province taken as an illustrative example.The spatiotemporal patterns of blue,green,and grey water footprints of major crops across the province from 2000 to 2023 were analyzed.The driving factors of these changes were further decomposed and analyzed using the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index(LMDI)model.[Result]①Temporally,the total water footprints of major crops in the province showed an'increase-decrease'trend from 2000 to 2023.Spatially,water footprints showed significant and persistent heterogeneity across the province,with high blue water footprint in the east and high green and grey water footprints in the south.This spatial variation was mainly affected by different cropping systems,in which irrigated wheat in the east dominated the blue water footprint,and rain-fed peanut and wheat-maize systems increased the green water footprint in the south.Intensive wheat-maize rotation was the main contributor to the grey water footprint.②Factor decomposition indicated that water footprints were predominantly influenced by the following factors:economic growth(49.43％)＞technological progress(37.78％)＞population(12.79％).Decrease in rural population had transformed agricultural structure toward a labor-saving and water-efficient type,which accelerated the downward trend of water footprints.[Conclusion]As a major grain-producing province,Henan is capable of coordinating its water-food nexus,ensuring food security and promoting high-quality agricultural development through improving efficiency of agricultural water resource utilization.
Keywords：cropswater footprintdriving factorLMDIHenan Province
Publication Date：2026-05-31
Online Publishing Date：2026-09-12(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：8( 117-124 )