Revealing the characteristics of crop water use in arid and semi-arid areas and clarifying the differences in crop species and water use between provinces will help propose measures to promote sustainable agricultural development from the perspective of efficient crop water use, which is crucial for ensuring global food security. In this study, taking arid and semi-arid Northwest China as an example, the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of the water footprint (WF) of major grain and economic crops were systematically analyzed using WF and comparative advantage theory and the differences in WF among different regions and crops were evaluated. The results showed that from 2000 to 2020, the WF of regional agricultural production decreased significantly (<0.01). The blue WF of grain and cash crops decreased from 59.9 % and 48.0 % in 2000–54.0 % and 41.2 % in 2020, respectively. The WF of wheat, rice, soybeans, maize, potatoes, vegetables, cotton, oil and fruits decreased by 40.9 %, 46.3 %, 50.1 %, 43.4 %, 48.9 %, 40.7 %, 40.6 %, 50.1 %, and 39.7 % from 2000 to 2020, respectively. The WF of grain crop production in Inner Mongolia was 45.8 % lower than that in Qinghai. The WF of economic crop production in Gansu was 2.7 times that of Ningxia. The differences in WF of crop production among regions led to different comparative advantages for different crops in different regions. Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia had comparative advantages in wheat production WF, with indices of 0.91, 0.90 and 0.89, respectively. The regions with relative comparative advantage of maize were Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi and Qinghai. The research results can provide a reference for the systematic analysis of crop production characteristics in other arid and semi-arid regions around the world and propose remedial measures for inter-regional crop production differences to contribute to a reduction in the number of people experiencing hunger.

中文翻译：

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基于水足迹和比较优势的干旱半干旱地区农作物生产水资源效率评价


揭示干旱半干旱地区农作物用水特征，明确省际农作物种类和用水差异，有助于从农作物高效利用角度提出促进农业可持续发展的措施，对保障全球农业可持续发展至关重要。粮食安全。本研究以西北干旱半干旱地区为例，运用WF和比较优势理论，系统分析了主要粮食和经济作物水足迹（WF）的时空演变特征，并分析了不同作物间水足迹的差异。对不同地区和作物进行了评估。结果表明，2000—2020年，区域农业生产WF显着下降（<0.01）。粮食和经济作物蓝色WF分别由2000年的59.9%和48.0%下降到2020年的54.0%和41.2%。小麦、水稻、大豆、玉米、马铃薯、蔬菜、棉花、油料、水果的WF比上年分别下降40.9%、46.3%、50.1%、43.4%、48.9%、40.7%、40.6%、50.1%和39.7%。分别为2000年至2020年。内蒙古粮食产量WF比青海低45.8%。甘肃经济作物产量WF是宁夏的2.7倍。地区间农作物生产WF的差异导致不同地区不同作物的比较优势不同。山西、陕西、内蒙古小麦产量WF具有比较优势，指数分别为0.91、0.90和0.89。玉米具有相对比较优势的地区是内蒙古、陕西和青海。 研究结果可为系统分析全球其他干旱、半干旱地区农作物生产特征提供参考，并针对区域间农作物生产差异提出补救措施，为减少饥饿人口做出贡献。