Liu et al. (2026) Climate change reshaped cereal irrigation requirements and water productivity in the Yellow River Basin, China

Identification

• Journal: Agricultural Water Management
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-07-01
• Authors: Yanqi Liu, Zailin Huo, Pu Wang, D Wang, Chenglong Zhang, Chaozi Wang, Minghong Chen, Junwei Tan, Guanhua Huang, Anne Gobin
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110587

Research Groups

• Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven
• State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Agricultural Water Resources, China Agricultural University
• Center for Agricultural Water Research in China, China Agricultural University
• College of Water Conservancy, Yunnan Agricultural University

Short Summary

This study quantified the impact of climate change on irrigation water requirements (IWR) and crop water productivity (WPc) for maize and wheat in the Yellow River Basin, China. The results show that rising atmospheric evaporative demand is the primary driver of increasing IWR and declining WPc.

Objective

• Quantify the spatiotemporal responses of IWR and WPc to climate change
• Attribute changes in IWR and WPc to atmospheric water supply (P), atmospheric evaporative demand (D), and temperature-related physiological constraints (T)

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: 1 km resolution across the Yellow River Basin, China
• Temporal Scale: 1975–2024

Methodology and Data

• Models used: EPIC-SWBM coupled agro-hydrological model
• Data sources:
  • Daily historical meteorological data from 109 stations (China Meteorological Administration)
  • Soil hydraulic properties at 1 km resolution (Zhang et al., 2018b)
  • Crop data and production regions (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2025)

Main Results

• Rising atmospheric evaporative demand is the primary driver of increasing IWR and declining WPc for both maize and wheat.
• The dominant drivers of changes in IWR and WPc vary by region and crop.

Contributions

• This study provides a comprehensive assessment of the impact of climate change on irrigation water requirements (IWR) and crop water productivity (WPc) for maize and wheat in the Yellow River Basin, China.
• The results highlight the importance of considering multiple climatic pathways when evaluating the impacts of climate change on agricultural systems.

Funding

• This research was funded by [project name] (reference code: [code]) and [project name] (reference code: [code]).

Citation

@article{Liu2026Climate,
  author = {Liu, Yanqi and Huo, Zailin and Wang, Pu and Wang, D and Zhang, Chenglong and Wang, Chaozi and Chen, Minghong and Tan, Junwei and Huang, Guanhua and Gobin, Anne},
  title = {Climate change reshaped cereal irrigation requirements and water productivity in the Yellow River Basin, China},
  journal = {Agricultural Water Management},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110587},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110587}
}