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Arid Land Geography ›› 2024, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (9): 1508-1517.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2023.615

• Climatology and Hydrology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Green efficiency and rebound effect of water for grain production in China: Based on the three-stage super-efficiency SBM-Malmquist model

LUO Jingyi1(), DONG Mei2()   

  1. 1. College of Agriculture, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, Ningxia, China
    2. School of Economics and Management, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, Ningxia, China
  • Received:2023-10-31 Revised:2023-11-30 Online:2024-09-25 Published:2024-09-24
  • Contact: DONG Mei E-mail:ljy9178@126.com;pr2003@126.com

Abstract:

Improving the green efficiency of water use for grain production is one of the effective ways to reduce the scale of agricultural water use and realize the green development of agriculture. Based on the panel data of 31 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) in China from 2010 to 2020, the green efficiency of water use for grain production is evaluated by using the water footprint of grain production as an input indicator and the gray water footprint of grain production as a non-desired output, using the three-stage super-efficiency SBM-Malmquist index model, based on which the rebound of water use for grain production under the condition of technological progress is measured. The study found that: (1) Factors such as planting structure, irrigation technology and nitrogen fertilizer application have a significant impact on the water use efficiency of grain production; there are significant differences in the water footprint and gray water footprint of different grains; the average growth rate of the gray water footprint is ranked as follows: central China>eastern China>western China. (2) The external environment has a significant impact on the green efficiency of water use for grain production in China; after removing the environmental factors, the mean value of comprehensive technical efficiency decreases by 0.147, the mean value of pure technical efficiency and the mean value of scale efficiency decreases by 0.018 and 0.250, respectively; the green total factor productivity of water use for grain production as a whole is in the optimization stage, which is mainly dependent on the changes of technological progress. (3) Technology, as the dominant factor in improving agricultural water use efficiency, largely influences the pace of change in the rebound effect of water use for grain production in China. In addition to the eastern region in 2017, the rebound effect of water for grain production did not occur, the rebound effect exists in all other years, and the regional development of agricultural water conservation technology is characterized by an obvious imbalance. It is recommended to strengthen the management of agricultural water resources, deepen the potential of water use efficiency improvement, optimize the input structure of food production factors, and promote the up-lift and application of water-saving technologies, so as to mitigate water environmental pollution and realize the green and sustainable development of agriculture.

Key words: green efficiency, water footprint, three-stage super-efficiency SBM-Malmquist, undesired output, rebound effect