Paper
Water Footprint of Major Cereals and Some Selected Minor Crops of Pakistan
- Authors:
- Muhammad Asad Ghufran; Muhammad Atique Butt; Abida Farooqi; Aniqa Batool; Muhamad Fahad Irfan
- Abstract
- This study deals with the consumptive water use of some selected crops of Pakistan, including major crops, such as cereals and oil seeds and minor crops including vegetables, fruit, tobacco, tea etc. Water footprints have been calculated using CROPWAT 8.0 (developed by Land and Water Division of FAO). The software bases its calculations on Penman Monteith equation. The study enables us to assess the use of water not in a conventional way of water withdrawal but in terms of water footprint (WF) which characterizes the use of water that does not return to its source or origin in a small time scale. The study compares the water footprint values obtained in current research, with the WF averages globally for the same crops. It has been observed that sorghum, barley, millet and oil crops such as ground nut, soybean and sunflower notably use high quantities of water in the local conditions as compared to the global averages of the same. Most of these are estimated at a higher side of WF, as high as double of the global averages. Most of the crops in Pakistan indicate water footprint either equal to or greater than the global averages which can be attributed to various factors, most important is principally arid conditions, dry subtropical climate, poor irrigation techniques and water management systems and also low yields lead to higher WF calculation. There have been observed only three crops, viz. wheat, potato and tobacco whose water footprint is lower than the global averages. Tobacco has a water footprint smaller than global average based on the fact that in Pakistan tobacco is the crop whose yield exceeds the global average yields, so its high per unit area production translates into low water footprint. A reduced water footprint is a recommended condition wherein the entity under question uses the least possible amount of water thus demonstrating sustainable use of water.
- Keywords
- Water Footprint (WF); Cereals; Oil Crop; Minor Crops; CROPWAT 8.0; Penman Monteith Equation; Tobacco; Wheat
- StartPage
- 358
- EndPage
- 366
- Doi
- 10.5963/JWRHE0404006