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Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment Vol.12 (3&4): 12-18. 2014
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Food security of Northwest China under current water resources and food
consumption patterns
Jianping Li 1, Jing Chen 1 and Zhouping Shangguan 2*
1
School of Agriculture, Ningxia University, Yinchuan Ningxia, 750021, P. R. China. 2 State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and
Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation,Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yangling
Shaanxi, 712100, P. R. China. *e-mail: [email protected]
Received 22 June 2014, accepted 24 September 2014.
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of water resources and food consumption patterns on the food security of Northwest China. A regional water
requirement model (RWRM) and a food security model (FSM) were set up to evaluate the water shortage and food security of Northwest China,
respectively. The results showed that the water resource shortage of Northwest China is severe and thus the status of food security is unsafe without
food import; the urban food security of the region is better than the rural food security, and more water and energy are needed for the urban
population; and the water shortage of Northwest China has increased dramatically since 1983 and will continue to increase in the future, having
already reached 170 billion m3 in 2010 and will reach 400 billion m3 in 2050. Finally, some countermeasures that should be taken to safeguard the food
and water securities of Northwest China are as follows: control the population growth according to the local conditions and the population and
structure of the ethnic (minority) peoples; promote calorie-appropriate and energy-efficient diets instead of unhealthy diets; eliminate food wastes;
and develop water-saving agriculture and breed water-saving crop varieties. The models and proposed countermeasures are expected to provide
theoretical foundation and practical guidance for sustainable development and food security of Northwest China.
Key words: Food security, agricultural water resource, food consumption pattern, Northwest China, model.
Introduction
In addition to population growth, industrial development and
uncontrolled economic growth, water shortage is more and more
recognized as a major threat to food security due to its restriction
of agricultural production 1, 2. The changes in consumption
patterns, i.e., the increasing proportion of water-intensive food
(e.g. meat), may become the main cause of water shortage 3.
Currently, approximately one third of the world’s population lives
in countries suffering water shortage, including north China, west
Asia, and Libya and Saudi Arabia, who have used water for
irrigation that greatly exceeds their annual total water resources 4.
Many authors estimate that a large part of the world’s population
- up to two-thirds - will be affected by water shortage over the
next decades 5, 6.
In China, water resources uses can be divided into four forms:
agricultural water (62% of the total amount), industrial water (24%),
domestic water (12%), and eco-environmental water (2%) 7. Nearly
all agricultural water is freshwater 8 and a shortage of freshwater
exists all over the world 9. So water shortage fundamentally results
from insufficient freshwater for food production 3, 10. Generally
speaking, different amounts of water are required to produce
different foods. For example, about 1 - 3 m3 of water is required to
produce 1 kg of cereal, and about 13.5 m3 of water is required to
produce 1 kg of beef in California 11. Consequently, different food
consumption patterns require different amounts of water
resources. With economic development and improved living
standards, the proportion of water-intensive foods has been
growing in food consumption patterns, so that more water
resources are required to meet human food demands. For example,
12
a typical American diet which includes red meat requires twice as
much water as a vegetarian diet to provide the same nutritional
intake 12. Also, climate change can be a significant factor that
affects agriculture and food production, exerting either a positive
or a negative influence on food security. For instance, higher CO2
concentrations can have a positive effect on many crops by
enhancing their biomass accumulation and final yields. However,
extreme weather conditions due to climate change can have
negative effect on food security by blocking food distribution,
and causing food supplies to be unstable and stored foods to
decompose 13.
In arid regions, the difference between water resource supply
and water demand is increasingly becoming acute due to
increasing water requirements and unchanging or decreasing water
supply. China is a drought-prone country suffering severe water
shortage. Although the total water resources amount of China is
2.8 trillion m3, ranking sixth in the world, its per-capita water amount
is only 2300 m3, 1/4th of the average level in the world. However,
China is one of the 13 countries suffering water shortage 14. In
terms of their spatial distribution, the water resources of China
tend to decrease from its northeast coastal area to northwest inland
area. Meanwhile, the agricultural water use efficiency of China is
low and farmland soil salinization and environmental pollution are
severe, particularly in the rural area of China 15. With its population
growth and rapid industrialization, the industrial water and
domestic water needs of China are increasing and their combined
demand restricts the agricultural water use for food production.
In the meantime, the food consumption pattern of China has shifted
Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014
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towards animal product-dominated patterns, particularly meatMaterials and Methods
dominated ones, which mean that the agricultural water needs of Profile of study area: With the longitude ranging within 73°41'E China have further increased. The result will be that the water 111°15'E and latitude from 31°42'N - 49°33'N, Northwest China has
supply for food production will be insufficient to meet all demands a total area of 3,045,600 km2, accounting for 30.8% of the total area
which may result in food insecurity. Relevant data collected in the of China. It covers five provinces and autonomous regions from
2010 China Agriculture Yearbook 16 showed that China uses 48% southeast to northwest: Shaanxi, Ningxia Hui Autonomous
of irrigation farmland to produce 75% of grain yield and more than Region, Gansu, Qinhai and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
90% of cotton and vegetables. Therefore, the agricultural water (Fig. 1). In late 2010, Northwest China had its peak population of
use of China is a key factor that affects its food security.
96.6 million, which accounted for 7.2% of the total population of
Northwest China is the region suffering the most severe water China and of which the minority population accounted for 19%.
shortage, where the water and agricultural land resources are The landscape of Northwest China includes plateaus, basins and
generally spatially unevenly distributed and the ecosystem is mountains. Characterized by low rainfall and high evaporation,
fragile. The data collected from the Main Data Communique of the Northwest China is an arid and semi-arid region. The annual mean
Sixth National Population Census 17 showed that Northwest China precipitation of Northwest China decreases from 400 mm in the
has a population growth rate of more than 10‰, higher than the east to 200 mm in the middle part to less than 50 mm in the
average national level of 5.7‰. Also, the food consumption pattern northwest. Northwest China has an annual total water resources
of Northwest China differs greatly from the other regions of China. (surface and aquifer water) amount of 230 billion m3, which
For instance, the animal products consumption of the former is accounts for 9% of that of China. Since a majority of agricultural
higher compared with that in other regions. Northwest China is a irrigation facilities are poorly developed and most of farming
district, where there are many minority ethnic peoples including practice is dry land farming, northwest China depends on
Uygur, Hui, Tibetan, Mongolian and so on. Since these ethnic precipitation for the majority of crop production.
peoples consume more fresh milk and meat-dominated foods, and
only use grains as dietary supplements, Northwest China needs Methods:
more agricultural water than other regions to produce foods in RWRM and its parameters: A RWRM was established, in terms of
order to maintain its food security for its diverse population. water amount necessary to produce a unit of product and per
Meanwhile, with the acceleration of implementing the Great capita food consumption, to calculate the amount of water resource
Western Development Strategy in China where Northwest China that was used in agriculture to produce food, and to calculate the
was zoned as one industrial development region, more and more total amount of water resource requirement using a proportional
freshwater will be used by industry, which will probably rate of agricultural water use. The model is expressed as follows:
n
additionally limit water resources used by agriculture. In a word,
1
people will need more and more water resources to safeguard WRWR = βαδ (∑ M iWi )( Pr + Pu )
i =1
their food security, but there are limited water resources, which
are insufficient to produce food for food security, in Northwest
where WRWR represents the regional water requirement under
China, as well as the limited water resources will
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be used by industry and other aspects instead of
agriculture. Therefore, the sharp conflict between
the water resources and food security are
becoming acute, and how to tackle these conflicts
N
is a highly important topic that attracts attention
from all the fields.
Focusing on the water resource and food
consumption patterns of Northwest China, the
objectives of this study were to establish a
regional water requirement model (RWRM) and a
food security model (FSM) to evaluate the status
of its water shortage and food security, respectively;
develop models for predicting its future water and
food security depending on the current status of
water and food security, which were calculated
by RWRM and FSM; and provide sustainable
development-oriented countermeasures to tackle
the conflicts between the water shortage and food
security of the region depending on the models
and analyses. The results will lay a theoretical
Provincial capital
foundation and provide practical guidance for the
Study area
sustainable development and food security of
Provincial boundary
Northwest China.
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Figure 1. Location of the study area.
Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014
13
the current food consumption pattern, 1/(βαδ) is ratio of water
consumption for food production to the total water resources, β
is the proportion of water supply to total water resource, α is the
proportion of agricultural water to total water supply, δ is
agricultural water use efficiency, M i is annual per-capita
consumption of the i th food (kg), Wi is water amount necessary
for to produce the i th food (m3 kg-1), n is food number, Pr is rural
population, and Pu is urban population. The parameters of Wi are
listed in Table 1 and those of Mi in Table 2.
Wtotal is assumed to represent the total water resources . If WRWR >
Wtotal, then there will be insufficient water resources and insufficient
water supply to produce enough food for consumption under the
current food consumption patterns. Otherwise, food and water
security will be guaranteed. Different regions have different β
over time; the average β is about 83% from 1980 to 2010. The
average α is within 80 - 86%, which comes from the China Statistics
Yearbook 13. The value of δ is from the published papers 18-20,
ranging from 0.4 to 0.6. Since rural and urban food consumption
patterns differed greatly, the rural and urban populations were
Table 1. Actual water consumptions and energy water
productivities for mostly consumed food items.
Food items
Cereals and roots
Rice
Wheat
Maize
Other
Potatoes and other starchy roots
Sugar and sweetener
Oil corps and vegetable oils
Soybeans and other oil crops
Vegetable oils
Vegetables and fruits
Vegetables
Fruits
Animal products
Beef
Pork
Poultry
Mutton and goat meat
Fish and sea food
Eggs
Milk
Alcoholic
3
-1
Ei (kcal kg )
1.31
0.98
0.84
1.24
0.23
1.02
3625
2633
2872
2709
699
3481
3.2
5.08
3314
8720
0.19
0.5
188
413
12.56
4.46
2.39
4.5
5
3.55
1
0.18
2021
3500
1708
2005
497
1455
670
490
FSM and its parameters: A FSM was established to convert food
intake into energy intake to estimate food security. It was defined
as:
n
E EI = ∑ M υ i Ei
-1
Wi (m kg )
separately introduced into the RWRM so that the estimation and
evaluation would not be biased.
Food consumption patterns greatly influence water security.
For example, beef production needs 13 times more water than
wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production to produce same amount
of weight, and 17 times more water than wheat to supply same
amount of energy 21. The study divided food consumption patterns
into two types: rural and urban patterns, because rural people and
urban people have different purchasing powers, dietary habits,
and food consumption habits. Thus, the comparison errors
resulting from ignoring these differences were reduced. Table 2
presents the annual per capita food consumption in the past 30
years (1980 - 2010), which indicates that the per capita annual
consumption of all food items has increased, while the
consumption of cereals has decreased. It also indicates that the
per capita food consumption of the rural population was less than
that of the urban population, again except for cereal consumption.
i =1
where EEI is per capita energy intake per day (kcal), Mυi is daily
per-capita consumption of the food (kg), Mυi = Mi /365, and Ei is
the energy of the i th food (kcal kg-1), n is foods number (Table 1).
Energy intake, recommended as the main indicator for measuring
food security by FAO 24, consists of four requirements:
i. Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) for adults: 1300 - 1700 kcal per
person per day.
ii. Allowance for light activities: 1720 - 1960 kcal per person per
day.
iii. Allowance for appropriate activities: 2000 - 2310 kcal per person
per day.
iv. Allowance for labours or activities above the average intensity
or surpassing appropriate activities: 2600 - 2950 kcal.
This study adopted the average-weighted caloric requirement
of 2300 kcal/person/day to measure food security, which was the
calorie number required for appropriate activities. If EEI>2300 kcal,
then the food security was adequate; and if 1700 kcal<EEI< 2300
kcal, the food security was low; and if EEI<BMR, the energy
supply was insufficient and people were in the state of
malnourished and starvation. However, with development of
economic and improvement of the people’s living standard, the
Sources: Actual water consumptions of cereals, soybean, vegetables and fruits from Liu
et al. 21, fish and seafood from Zimmer and Renault 22, other food items from Chapagain
et al. 23.
Note: Wi is water amount necessary for to produce the i th food (m3 kg-1), Ei is the energy
of the i th food (kcal kg-1).
Table 2. Rural and urban food consumption patterns of northwest China over time.
Food items
Cereals and roots
Vegetables
Vegetable oils
Pork
Beef & goat meat
Poultry
Eggs
Fish and sea food
Milk
Fruits
Alcoholic
1980
Urban Rural
130
257
60
40
5
2
15
8
2
0
2
1
4
1
2
0
3
0
18
3
0
2
1985
Urban Rural
135
257
74
47
6
4
17
11
2
2
3
1
7
2
7
1
5
2
25
5
5
4
1990
Urban Rural
131
262
89
68
6
5
18
11
3
2
3
1
7
2
8
2
9
2
34
6
5
6
1995
Urban Rural
97
259
116
85
7
6
17
11
2
3
4
2
10
3
9
3
14
2
40
14
6
7
2000
Urban Rural
82
248
115
86
8
8
17
12
3
3
5
1
11
2
10
0
17
4
46
16
5
2
2005
Urban Rural
76
214
123
95
9
5
23
21
4
5
10
3
8
3
7
1
19
4
52
14
6
9
2010
Urban Rural
70
195
125
99
10
5
28
25
5
5
15
4
8
2
10
1
16
8
51
17
12
10
Source: National Bureau of Statistics (1981-2011)
Notes: China Statistical Yearbooks generally tell consumption data by classifying food items into food groups. One example is the consumption of cereals and roots. So, the study divided the cereal and
roots into there parts: 65% of wheat, 35% of rice, and 10% of roots, according to the food consumption habits of northwest China.
14
Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014
per capita energy intake should increase as well as the measurement
of food security in underdeveloped countries and developing
countries.
Data sources: The data for this study, including water resources,
population and food consumption patterns, were from China
Statistics Yearbook 16 and China Agriculture Yearbook 25. The
parameters of the RWRM and FSM were extracted out of the
published papers and China Statistics Yearbook 16 and China
Agriculture Yearbook 25. The parameters of the predicted models
(shown in Table 3) come from the regression models, which were
developed by the data (from 1980 to 2010) that were calculated by
RWRM and FSM.
3500
Population (104)
6000
5250
Rural population
Per capita water resource
Urban population
4500
3750
3250
3000
2750
3000
2500
2250
1500
2250
1980
1985
1990
1995
Year
2000
2005
Per capita water resource (m3)
Analysis and Results
Current water resources and population: The annual total water
resources for Northwest China were almost stable around 230
billion m3 in the past 30 years, without much change from year to
year (Fig. 2). Because of the exploding population, the annual per
capita total water resource sharply decreased (Fig. 3) from 3400 m3
at the end of 1980 to 2300 m3 in 2010. In the meantime, the per
capita water supply also decreased dramatically from 1019 m3 in
1980 to only 699 m3 at the end of 2010, which was far below the
water shortage-warning line (1000 m3 per capita).With the increased
water pollution and reduced usable fresh water resource, fresh
2010
Total water requirement and total
water resources in northwest
China (cu.m billion )
Figure 2. Population and per capita water resource reserves
in the different years.
400
water resource for the people was significantly reduced 26.
Figure 3 shows that the urban population has been growing
linearly since 1980. Although it has a large base, the rural
population has increased slowly since 1980. Because the
urbanization and industrialization have caused many rural
residents to migrate to the urban areas, and the natural increase in
the rural population was offset by the amount of rural population
who migrated to urban areas, the rural population has remained at
approximately 53 million in the past 30 years. So, the urban
population growth can be viewed as the population growth of
Northwest China. Meanwhile, Northwest China will be a main
area that has a population growth faster than the other regions of
China, because the population growth rate is 14.05‰ (average
value in the past 30 years), compared with the national average of
5.7‰. Therefore, more population, especially the urban population
who consume more energy than rural residents, will threaten water
security and food security.
Status of water security: The regional water requirement is defined
as the amount of water resources required for the present food
consumption patterns and all other water use. The water
requirement of Northwest China has been larger than its supply
since 1982, and the gap between the former and the latter has
increased dramatically year by year (Fig. 2). In 1980, the total
water resources of 240 billion m3 were larger than the water
requirement of 225 billion m3. This indicated that there was
sufficient water for producing food and other uses and water
resources were not a key constraining factor in agriculture and
industry. However, the difference between the water requirement
and the water supply has increased sharply from 5 billion m3 in
1982 to 170 billion m3 in 2010. By 2010, more than 80% of the total
water resource was used for agriculture. Due to water shortage,
the agriculture production will be reduced and food supply will be
insufficient to meet food consumption, and food insecurity will
occur without the importation of food. In the meantime, how to
properly distribute the limited total water resource among
agriculture, industry, life and ecology will be a big problem, and
an irrational distribution will have a negative effect on the regional
economy and society.
Total water requirement
Total water resources
Status of food security: The average per capita energy intakes per
day were obtained by the FSM model. The rural per capita energy
320
intake per day was less than the urban one during the past 30
years (Fig. 4). After 1983, the urban per capita energy intake per
280
day was over 2300 kcal, indicating that the urban food security of
240
Northwest China was safeguarded. The urban per capita energy
intake per day reached a high record of 3100 kcal in 2000 and
1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
generally decreased from 2000 to 2010 but remained above 2700
Year
kcal, surpassing the food security threshold of 2300 kcal. This
Figure 3. Total water resources and total water requirement
decrease resulted from the changes in food consumption patterns,
of northwest China in the different years.
which was the consumption of less cereal and more
meat and vegetables. However, the rural food security
Table 3. Forecast models and water securities in the following 40 years.
was poor. The rural per capita energy intake per day
was 1400 kcal in 1980, which was lower than that
needed for the Basal Metabolic Rate for adults. The
rural population suffered malnutrition and starvation
in 1980s. The per capita energy intake per day has
generally increased from 1400 kcal in 1980 to 2290 kcal
Note: P is population, E is per capita energy intake per day (Kcal), W is amount of total water need for food, e is the base
in 1998 but has remained below the food security
360
of the natural logarithm (approximately 2.7183), x is year, and R2 is determination coefficient.
Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014
15
Per capita energy intake per day
(Kcal/person /day )
3000
2700
2400
2100
1800
Urban area
Rural area
Food security line
1500
1980
1985
1990
1995
Year
2000
2005
2010
Figure 4. Per capita energy intakes per day of northwest
China in the different years.
threshold; the per capita energy intake per day has generally
fluctuated around 2300 kcal after 1998, being 2400 kcal in 2000,
2250 kcal in 2005, and 2330 kcal in 2010. Thus, the food security
for the rural population was nearly average. Therefore, the food
security of Northwest China was safeguarded from 1998 to 2010,
but this sufficient food security may not last long because of the
population growth, water shortage, and living standard
improvement.
Food security and water security in the future: This study
developed the Population Forecast Model (P), the Energy Intake
per Capita per Day Model (E), and the Water Resource Requirement
Forecast model (W) depending on the populations, per capita
energy intakes per day, and total water resources and water
requirement from 1980 to 2010. W – Wtotal, the differences between
the water requirements and the existing total water resources, was
used to evaluate the future water situation (Table 3). The forecast
models depended on the economies, population and food patterns
in the past 30 years to forecast the future.
Table 3 shows that the population of northwest China is
projected to grow exponentially from 110.5 million at the end of
2020 to 135.9 million in 2050, a 25.4 million increase, and more than
80% of the population will become urban residents in 2050.
Meanwhile, the per capita energy intake per day and the regional
water requirement will reach 3762 kcal and 625.5 m3 in 2050,
respectively. The water gap (W – Wtotal) will increase sharply in the
next 40 years. The total water resources will meet only 50% of the
water requirement of 463.5 billion m3 in 2020 and the gap will reach
400.1 billion m3 in 2050. Consequentially, the population growth,
sharp water gap increase and energy intakes of northwest China
will threaten the food security because of the insufficient water
for producing food in the future.
Discussion
Water shortage and food security have become primary factors
that restrict the national economic progress of China. If water
shortage evolves into a crisis, the effects may be far more severe
than the crisis of oil shortage that we have experienced so far 27.
Water security is the basis for food security, which is the basis for
modern agriculture. Agriculture can save water resources to
safeguard food security by consuming less water to produce more
food 28, 29. At present, water resources for food security of China is
facing challenges resulting from the water shortage, due to
increasing industrial and urban water uses, lack of extensive water
resources management, and water loss and soil erosion.
Agricultural water use is crucial to China, because China has a big
16
population and suffers poverty. Two-thirds of the undernourished
population (not enough food to eat) of the world live in seven
countries (Bangladesh, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Ethiopia, India, Indonesia and Pakistan) and over 40% of the
undernourished population live in China and India 30. Thus, water
for food production cannot be diverted for other uses, especially
in the rural area of Northwest China where much of the
undernourished population lives. The typical water distribution
pattern of China is that it is dry in its northwest and humid in its
southeast, and its water supply differs across regions and time.
Because the water supply of Northwest China represents a much
smaller portion of China’s total water resource, it faces very serious
problems with agricultural water shortage. Since agriculture is
now the largest branch of water user, it is important to develop
modern water-saving agriculture to safeguard the food security,
water security, and ecology security of China. The measures for
this purpose have been recognized by the scientists and
governments 31, 32. In addition, most reserve cultivated-land
resources of China are located in Northwest; it is difficult to exploit
them because of water shortage. So, the option to safeguard food
security by expanding the amount of cultivated land will be difficult
to achieve.
Insufficient food resulting from water shortage in Northwest
China can be made up through trade 23 or food distribution. Our
study showed that in 2010, the total water requirement of Northwest
China was 390 billion m3, but the total water resources were only
230 billion m3. Also, the agricultural water requirement of 72.5
billion m3 is more than agricultural water supply of 42.5 billion m3,
so that obviously the region does not have enough water to
produce food under the current food consumption patterns.
Nevertheless, both the rural and urban food securities of northwest
China were good in 2010 mainly because reasonable food trade
and grain circulation offset its food shortage. Where trade is
possible at a reasonably low water cost, the crucial food security
issue is whether the monetary and non-monetary resources at the
disposal of the population are sufficient to allow everyone to get
access to adequate food supplies rather than not whether the
foods are sufficient, that is to say, food availability is not a key
factor affecting food security. An important corollary to this is
that regional self-sufficiency is neither necessary nor sufficient
to guarantee food security at the regional level. It is noted that
Hong Kong and Singapore are not self-sufficient (they don’t have
agriculture) but their populations are food-secure, meanwhile,
India is self-sufficient but a large part of its population is not
food-secure 13. However, more and more people will suffer from
food insecurity, if there are insufficient food supplies for trading
or circulation. In other words, both food production and trading
are important for safeguarding food security.
The results of this study showed that the water requirement for
food production has almost doubled from 1980 to 2010 (Fig. 3),
largely due to an increase in animal products consumption in the
recent decades. The models indicate that the future total water
requirement for food production will be likely to increase in the
next four decades. Even under the low modernization scenario,
food consumption pattern shifts along with population growth
will probably cause the total water requirement to reach 400 billion
m3 per year in 2050, even taking into consideration relevant
technological advances. This will undoubtedly put enormous
pressure on limited water resources in Northwest China. The
Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.12 (3&4), July-October 2014
RWRM model showed that there were five key factors affecting
the regional water requirement of Northwest China: population,
food consumption pattern, agricultural water, water supply
capacity, and crop water use efficiency. The following
countermeasures in terms of the five factors probably could
guarantee the future water security and food security of Northwest
China.
First, the population growth of Northwest China should be
regulated according to the local conditions. At present, the
population of northwest China is mainly rural with many ethnic
peoples living together, and thus the possibilities of the economic
security, societal security and cultural security should be
considered in a balanced way. Proper population countermeasures
should be taken and timely adjusted according to the population
and structure of the ethnic peoples to ensure common development
and prosperity of all the nationalities concerned. While the
population size will be controlled, the population’s quality of life
should be improved.
Second, caloric-appropriate diets and energy-efficient food
consumption patterns instead of unhealthy diets should be
promoted, and food wastes should be prohibited. In general, food
consumption patterns are closely related to increasing affluence.
However, eating habits probably plays a role in affecting the food
preference of China’s population. For example, the meat
consumption of China now exceeds what is recommended by China
Nutrition Society 33, and Northwest China has higher meat
consumption than other regions. In addition, the current diet shifts
of Northwest China may be detrimental to the population’s health,
and could cause higher incidences of diet-related diseases 34.
Raising public consciousness and promoting the diet recommended
by the CNS may help mitigate the future water shortage of China.
Meanwhile, food losses of China resulting from seeding, feeding,
harvesting, food processing, storage, transportation, and cooking
are large, making up 30% of the total food production of the
country. Consequentially, to eliminate all such food losses by
educating the population in healthy diet, food producing and
nutrition are wise measures to save food and water resources.
Third, Northwest China should develop water-saving agriculture
to guarantee the food and water securities. It is necessary for
Northwest China to increase water use efficiency and then water
supply as the total water resources are limited in the arid area. The
key approaches for increasing the water supply of Northwest
China can be summarized as follows: constructing reservoirs and
implementing water diversion projects; reasonably exploiting and
scientifically managing urban groundwater resources under the
precondition of sustainable development economy and society;
and trying to recycle waste water. Water-saving agriculture should
be promoted to safeguard water security. Water-saving agriculture
as an integrated system should include four aspects: rational uses
of agricultural water resources, water-saving irrigation, agronomic
water-saving techniques, and agricultural management 24.
Governmental supports and encouragements will be necessary to
achieve this system.
Fourth, biotechnological as well as traditional breeding methods
should be adopted as the efficient method to develop water-saving
crops for the arid areas of northwest China to feed its growing
population. Water-saving crops developed by modern biotechnology
breeding cannot only improve water use efficiency but also can
increase food production. In other words, more foods will be
produced without additional or with lowered consumption of the
currently existing water resources. Water-saving crop varieties,
such as drought resistant wheat in Australia, drought tolerant
cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in America and drought tolerant
fruit trees in Israeli 35, have good drought tolerance ability, stable
yields and good qualities.
Conclusions
In brief, improving water use efficiency through biological
approaches in combination with other water-saving methods and
projects and establishing sustainable agriculture with limited water
resources have become, and will continue to be, the challenges
for agricultural scientists in the future.
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by the Startup Project of Doctor Scientific
Research of Ningxia University (BQD2012008) and Key Project of
the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences (KZCX2-YW-JC408).
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