scholarly journals Water Footprint Assessment of Eggs in a Parent-Stock Layer Breeder Farm

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 2546
Author(s):  
Haohan Xing ◽  
Weichao Zheng ◽  
Baoming Li ◽  
Zhidan Liu ◽  
Yuanhui Zhang

Egg production and consumption of eggs in China account for about 40% of the global total, and this constitutes a significant demand for water resources. The shortage of water resources in China means egg production in this country has serious water challenges. However, there are few studies concerning water use in egg production. In this study, the water footprint network (WFN) methodology was applied to analyze the water footprint (WF) of intensive egg production using a typical parent-stock layer breeder farm in North China as a model, which raises 208,663 layer breeders and produces about 2791.39 t eggs per year. The feed and water consumption over 353 days were collected for analysis, and the water footprint of chicken eggs was estimated at the farm level. The water footprint of eggs in a parent-stock layer breeder farm in China was therefore assessed in detail for the first time, and suggestions are put forward to reduce the egg water footprint from the perspective of the production chain and improving water use efficiency on the farm. The results show that (1) the green WF of eggs (water volume/egg weight) ranged from 1.917 to 2.114 m3/kg, the blue WF was 0.584 to 0.644 m3/kg and the grey WF was 0.488 to 0.538 m3/kg; (2) the indirect WF generated by feed contributed over 99.8% of the total; (3) eggs laid by Hy-line Brown hens have a lower WF than those from Hy-line Sonia hens, and the studied layer breeder farm had a higher WF than the global average based on the literature. In this paper, the variation of the WF was also analyzed, and some advice on water management for layer farms in China is provided.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9665
Author(s):  
Weiwei Wang ◽  
Jigan Wang ◽  
Xinchun Cao

The increasing shortage of water resources and the growing demand for crops make water use efficiency a decisive factor for the sustainable and healthy development of the agricultural system. In order to evaluate agricultural water use efficiency from the water footprint perspective, the current study constructed the comprehensive water efficiency (CWE) index based on eight single agricultural water use efficiency performance parameters. The water resources utilization and efficiency in the wheat production system of China from 2006 to 2015 were analyzed and the sensitivity of single indices for CWE was identified. The results show that the national crop water footprint (CWF) for wheat production was estimated to be, including 46.3% blue, 36.6% green and 17.0% blue components, respectively. The spatial distribution patterns of water use efficiency performance indices were different. CWE of the country was 0.387, showing an upward trend over time and decreased from the southeast to the northwest geographically. Crop water productivity (CWP), productive water ratio (PWR) and rainwater consumption ratio (RCR) turned out to be the first three sensitive parameters for CWE in China. The improvement of China’s overall CWE relied on reducing inefficient blue-green water use and increasing the output capacity for per unit water. Advanced agricultural water-saving technologies were in high need for goal achievement, especially for the Huang-Huai-Hai plain, which held more than 70% of Chinese wheat production and CWF. The results provide support for efficient utilization and sustainable development of water resources in the agricultural system.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 810
Author(s):  
Yang Liu ◽  
Jianyi Lin ◽  
Huimei Li ◽  
Ruogu Huang ◽  
Hui Han

The water footprint (WF) vividly links water resources with virtual water of food, providing a novel perspective on food demand and water resources management. This study estimates the per capita WF of food consumption for six provinces in North China. Then, the study applies the logarithmic mean Divisia index method to decompose the driving forces of their WF changes. Results show that the per capita WF of food consumption in Beijing, Tianjin, and Inner Mongolia increases significantly in 2005–2017, whereas that in the other three provinces in North China varies slightly. All provinces have shown the same trend of food structure changes: the grain decreased, whereas the meat increased. In general, the urban effect was positive, and the rural effect was negative for all regions. The urban effects in Beijing and Tianjin played a leading role, whereas the rural effects in the other four provinces played a leading role from 2005–2009. However, the urban effects in all provinces played a leading role in 2010–2017. The WF efficiency increased in each province, and the effect in urban areas is stronger due to the higher water use efficiency. For most provinces, the consumption structure was positive because the diet shifted toward more meat consumption. The food consumption per capita effect was the major driving force in Beijing and Tianjin due to the increased consumption level, whereas the population proportion effect exerted a weak effect. To alleviate the pressure on water resources, further improving water use efficiency in food production and changing the planting structure should be emphasized for all regions in North China.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 08018
Author(s):  
Alfiana Aulia Firda ◽  
Purwanto

In terms of global water scarcity, the water footprint is an indicator of the use of water resources that given knowledge about the environmental impact of consuming a product. The sustainable use of water resources nowadays bring challenges related to the production and consumption phase of water intensive related goods such as in the agro-industry. The objective of the study was to assessment the total water footprint from soy sauce production in Grobogan Regency. The total water footprint is equal to the sum of the supply chain water footprint and the operational water footprint. The assessment is based on the production chain diagram of soy sauce production which presenting the relevant process stages from the source to the final product. The result of this research is the total water footprint of soy sauce production is 1.986,35 L/kg with fraction of green water 78,43%, blue water 21,4% and gray water 0,17%.


2013 ◽  
Vol 409-410 ◽  
pp. 79-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Qin Chen ◽  
Xian Feng Huang

Due to the rich resources of urban rainwater and transit flood in coastal areas, rational utilization of rainfall and flood water resources can improve the sustainable utilization, to better serve the coastal development. In this paper, the available quantity of water rainfall and flood water resources in coastal are distributed to domestic water, industrial water, agricultural water and ecologic environmental water. Water price method is used to calculate domestic water efficiency. Energy synthesis is used to calculate the industrial and agricultural water-use efficiency. Ecologic environmental water-use efficiency-sharing coefficient method is used to calculate the ecologic environmental water-use efficiency. Finally, taking Lianyungang City, a Jiangsu coastal city as an example to analyze the rainfall and flood water resources utilization efficiency. The results provide reference to the research for Chinas plain area rainfall and flood water resources efficiency analysis.


2016 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 1106-1115 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Mu ◽  
L. Fang ◽  
H. Wang ◽  
L. Chen ◽  
Y. Yang ◽  
...  

Worldwide, water scarcity threatens delivery of water to urban centers. Increasing water use efficiency (WUE) is often recommended to reduce water demand, especially in water-scarce areas. In this paper, agricultural water use efficiency (AWUE) is examined using the super-efficient data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach in Xi'an in Northwest China at a temporal and spatial level. The grey systems analysis technique was then adopted to identify the factors that influenced the efficiency differentials under the shortage of water resources. From the perspective of temporal scales, the AWUE increased year by year during 2004–2012, and the highest (2.05) was obtained in 2009. Additionally, the AWUE was the best in the urban area at the spatial scale. Moreover, the key influencing factors of the AWUE are the financial situations and agricultural water-saving technology. Finally, we identified several knowledge gaps and proposed water-saving strategies for increasing AWUE and reducing its water demand by: (1) improving irrigation practices (timing and amounts) based on compatible water-saving techniques; (2) maximizing regional WUE by managing water resources and allocation at regional scales as well as enhancing coordination among Chinese water governance institutes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 330-334
Author(s):  
Agnaldo Roberto de J Freitas ◽  
Francisco Claudio L de Freitas ◽  
Caetano Marciano de Souza ◽  
Fabio T Delazari ◽  
Paulo Geraldo Berger ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Vegetable cultivation requires high water use and weed control. Soil cover using recycled paper, can be an alternative to polyethylene film to reduce weed incidence, soil temperature and increase water use efficiency beyond reduces costs and environmental pollutions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of biodegradable mulch in weed management and water use efficiency (WUE) in lettuce crop. The treatments were composed of brown recycled paper (RP), black polyethylene film (PF) and soil without cover with weed removal (WR) and without weed removal (WW). RP and PF were efficient to control weeds. The soil temperature with RP was 8.2 and 2.1ºC lower than with PF and WR, respectively. The lettuce yield with RP was 14.5 and 28.3% higher than WR, and with PF, respectively. The water volume applied with RP was 26.5% lower, and WUE was 55.6% higher compared to WR. Soil cover with recycled paper controlled weeds, reduced soil temperature and water consumption and increased yield and water use efficiency in lettuce crop.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Jinji Zhang ◽  
Zhuangzhuang Cao ◽  
Haibo Dai ◽  
Zhiping Zhang ◽  
Minmin Miao

Fertigation with surface drip has been introduced and broadly applied for vegetable cultivation in the Eastern China, which presents high precipitation and always has shallow groundwater. To estimate the influence of high groundwater level on the tomato nitrogen (N) and water use efficiency and develop new sensor-based fertigation technology, experiments were executed in plastic greenhouse in the experimental farm of Yangzhou University located in the suburban of Yangzhou city during 2016-2017 growing seasons using a block randomization with three replications. Three N dosages and 4 watering treatments were carried out in this experiment. The data indicated that irrigation threshold of -35 kPa was optimum to get the maximum production of tomato. In this treatment, the value of estimated plant evapotranspiration (ETc) was much higher than total applied water volume, suggesting high groundwater table had a significant contribution on the tomato ETc and a sensor-based irrigation strategy should be more accurate than the simulated ETc irrigation method to calculate the water demand under this condition. In addition, our results indicated that high groundwater level had a positive effect to alleviating N leaching. Finally, we can conclude that fertigation technology enhanced the N use efficiency (NUE) and water use efficiency (WUE) and three fourths of the calculated N dosage (according to a traditional nutrient equation) was sufficient to optimize tomato yield.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Bo Luan ◽  
Ya-Li Yin ◽  
Pu-Te Wu ◽  
Shi-Kun Sun ◽  
Yu-Bao Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract. Fresh water is consumed during agricultural production. With the shortage of water resources, assessing the water use efficiency is crucial to effectively managing agricultural water resources. The water footprint is a new index for water use evaluation, and it can reflect the quantity and types of water usage during crop growth. This study aims to establish a method for calculating the region-scale water footprint of crop production based on hydrological processes. This method analyzes the water-use process during the growth of crops, which includes irrigation, precipitation, underground water, evapotranspiration, and drainage, and it ensures a more credible evaluation of water use. As illustrated by the case of the Hetao irrigation district (HID), China, the water footprints of wheat, corn and sunflower were calculated using this method. The results show that canal water loss and evapotranspiration were responsible for most of the water consumption and accounted for 47.9 % and 41.8 % of the total consumption, respectively. The total water footprints of wheat, sunflower and corn were 1380–2888 m3/t, 942–1774 m3/t, and 2095–4855 m3/t, respectively, and the blue footprint accounts for more than 86 %. The spatial distribution pattern of the green, blue and total water footprint for the three crops demonstrated that higher values occurred in the eastern part of the HID, which had more precipitation and was further from the irrigating gate. This study offers a vital reference for improving the method used to calculate the crop water footprint.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 5111-5123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Bo Luan ◽  
Ya-Li Yin ◽  
Pu-Te Wu ◽  
Shi-Kun Sun ◽  
Yu-Bao Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract. Fresh water is consumed during agricultural production. With the shortage of water resources, assessing the water use efficiency is crucial to effectively manage agricultural water resources. The water footprint is an improved index for water use evaluation, and it can reflect the quantity and types of water usage during crop growth. This study aims to establish a method for calculating the regional-scale water footprint of crop production based on hydrological processes, and the water footprint is quantified in terms of blue and green water. This method analyses the water-use process during the growth of crops, which includes irrigation, precipitation, groundwater, evapotranspiration, and drainage, and it ensures a more credible evaluation of water use. As illustrated by the case of the Hetao irrigation district (HID), China, the water footprint of wheat, corn and sunflowers were calculated using this method. The results show that canal water loss and evapotranspiration were responsible for most of the water consumption and accounted for 47.9 % and 41.8 % of the total consumption, respectively. The total water footprint of wheat, corn and sunflowers were 1380–2888, 942–1774 and 2095–4855 m3 t−1, respectively, and the blue footprint accounts for more than 86 %. The spatial distribution pattern of the green, blue and total water footprints for the three crops demonstrated that higher values occurred in the eastern part of the HID, which had more precipitation and was further away from the irrigation gate. This study offers a vital reference for improving the method used to calculate the crop water footprint.


Agriculture ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eros Borsato ◽  
Marco Martello ◽  
Francesco Marinello ◽  
Lucia Bortolini

Water scarcity is worsened by climate change. Water savings can be reached by improving irrigation efficiency both on farm and on water supply. To do that, the choice of the best irrigation technology is not always straightforward, because farmers need to renew and implement farm infrastructures for irrigation. This study compares three irrigation systems, one drip irrigation and two sprinkler (center pivot and hose-reel) systems, on environmental, economic, and energetic performance under irrigated and non-irrigated maize cropping. The study combines impact and efficiency indicators, addressing a sustainability analysis for the irrigation practice under the three different irrigation systems. The sustainability for the irrigation systems was assessed using water-related indicators (water use efficiency, irrigation water use efficiency, and water footprint), biomass (crop growth rate, relative growth rate, harvest index, and yield response factor), and energy indicators (energy footprint, performance, and energy cost footprint) for the environmental aspect; and the economic-based indicators (water productivity and economic water footprint) for the economic aspect. Main results address the center pivot system as the best solution for irrigation practice since it demonstrated higher economic and environmental performance. Moreover, maize under the pivot system allowed a higher biomass production, economic benefits, and water use efficiency.


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