Pang et al. (2025) Water Infrastructure and Grain Yield: Evidence From the South‐to‐North Water Diversion Project

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Agricultural Economics
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-31
• Authors: Jindong Pang, Shulin Shen, J. M. Yang
• DOI: 10.1111/agec.70088

Research Groups

Not available from the abstract.

Short Summary

This paper investigates the impact of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project's central route on agricultural and ecological outcomes in northern China. The study finds that the project significantly increases vegetation health, grain yield, Leaf Area Index, surface water area, and soil moisture content, demonstrating its effectiveness in enhancing both agricultural productivity and environmental conditions.

Objective

• To examine the impact of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project's central route on agricultural and ecological outcomes, with a particular focus on grain yield measured by the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI).

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Northern China, covering both cropland and non-cropland areas impacted by the SNWDP's central route.
• Temporal Scale: Not explicitly stated in the abstract, but "high-frequency" measures of vegetation health were utilized.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Difference-in-differences, instrumental variable estimation, and event study analysis (statistical methods).
• Data sources: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Leaf Area Index, surface water area, and soil moisture content.

Main Results

• The South-to-North Water Diversion Project significantly increases NDVI and grain yield.
• The project improves broader vegetation health by increasing the Leaf Area Index.
• The project enhances surface water area and soil moisture content, confirming an improved water supply for irrigation and ecosystem support.

Contributions

• The study provides empirical evidence highlighting the effectiveness of large-scale inter-basin water diversion projects in simultaneously improving agricultural productivity and broader environmental conditions.

Funding

Not mentioned in the abstract.

Citation

@article{Pang2025Water,
  author = {Pang, Jindong and Shen, Shulin and Yang, J. M.},
  title = {Water Infrastructure and Grain Yield: Evidence From the South‐to‐North Water Diversion Project},
  journal = {Agricultural Economics},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1111/agec.70088},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.70088}
}