Swapping the types of crops farmers plant is twice as effective at saving groundwater as buying high-tech irrigation gear.
A coupling model of agriculture and water policy found that while high-efficiency irrigation technology contributed 21% to groundwater recovery, adjusting cropping patterns accounted for 51%. This suggests that policy focus on expensive hardware subsidies is less effective than simply incentivizing different crop choices.
Evaluating the drivers of groundwater level recovery in a semi-arid agricultural region based on an agriculture-groundwater coupling model
SSRN · 6428460
Reduced precipitation combined with extensive irrigation are the primary causes of groundwater overexploitation in semi-arid agricultural regions, leading to crises in water, food, and ecology. Government policies aim to mitigate groundwater depletion, yet its effects are challenging to quantify. We developed a 1×1 km monthly Agriculture-Groundwater (AG) model framework for the Bashang Plateau in northern China to assess the impact of water policies on groundwater. The framework innovation achie