Global assessment of groundwater stress vis-à-vis sustainability of irrigated food production
Date
2022
Authors
Mohan, Chinchu
Western, Andrew W.
Jha, Madan Kumar
Wei, Yongping
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sustainability
Abstract
Due to poor water resources management, groundwater-dependent agriculture induces
substantial stress on several aquifer systems worldwide, which poses a serious threat to water
and food security. However, only a few studies have addressed this vital issue. This study aimed
to evaluate stress on aquifers due to the overuse of groundwater for food production and explore
pathways for stress reduction via improved irrigation efficiency and productivity. Groundwater stress
was characterized using the ratio of water use to availability, with consideration for environmental
flows. The results indicated that out of 107 countries—dependent on groundwater irrigation, about
half are overexploiting groundwater, while one-fifth of these countries are extracting moderately-to
heavily. Over 90% of the non-renewable groundwater abstraction occurs in 7 countries. Further,
about 450 million tonnes (Mt) of global annual food production is from non-renewable groundwater
exploitation. If the existing irrigation efficiency is increased to 90%, current groundwater stress
would be reduced by 40%. Additionally, in unstressed regions, it would be possible to produce
additional 300 Mt of food by using saved water while maintaining groundwater stress at acceptable
levels. Moreover, improved water productivity in conjunction with increased irrigation efficiency
could reduce the current level of unsustainable food production by 47%. These results provide
important insights into the dynamics of irrigation stress on groundwater systems, and the role of
managerial interventions.
Description
Keywords
groundwater stress, food production, non-renewable groundwater abstraction, irrigation efficiency
Citation
Mohan, C., Western, A. W., Jha, M. K., & Wei, Y. (2022). “Global assessment of groundwater stress vis-à-vis sustainability of irrigated food production.” Sustainability, 14(24), 16896. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416896