Water footprint as indicator of water resources consumption by crop production in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship
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Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy we Wrocławiu, pl. Grunwaldzki 24, 50-375 Wrocław
Publication date: 2018-12-01
Inż. Ekolog. 2018; 6:71-79
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Growing deficit of water in environment, changing nature of rainfall resulting from climate change and simultaneous increase in water demand for agriculture, force the need for a discussion on the subject of water resources management. One of the tools to assess the use of water in the crop production is water footprint. This article presents the results of analysis of water consumption in agriculture for the crop production in the years 2014-2017. The assessment of quantity and type of water used was made by applying the water footprint indicator. The analysis considered 28 plants covering almost 95% of the total sown area in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. The research revealed that the total water footprint for all analysed crops amounted to 4 815 million m3 per year and 7 032 m3 per hectare of sown area. Of the three components of the water footprint, the highest values were achieved for the green water footprint (76%), which determines the amount of water used from rainfall and stored in the soil to be used by crops. The increase in the frequency of drought periods, occurring mainly in the vegetation period, drives the agriculture to cultivate crops which are more resistant to climate changes and less water intensive (having lower unit water footprint).