Li et al. (2026) Spatiotemporal patterns of crop water productivity under changing water–salinity conditions in an arid irrigation district of the upper Yellow River basin

Identification

• Journal: Agricultural Water Management
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-09
• Authors: Xinyi Li, Xu Xu, Chen Sun, Dongyang Ren, Quanzhong Huang
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110758

Research Groups

• Key Laboratory of Ecological Environment Evolution and Pollution Control in Mountainous and Rural Areas of Yunnan Province, Southwest Forestry University
• Center for Agricultural Water Research in China, China Agricultural University
• Bayannur Research Institute, Bayannur
• Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Short Summary

This study integrated remote sensing, multi-source datasets, trend analysis, and the GeoDetector model to investigate long-term crop-specific patterns of yield and water productivity (CWP) in a large arid irrigation district. The results showed that maize CWP increased markedly, reaching 3.44 kg m⁻³ in 2021, while sunflower CWP increased from 0.76 to 1.08 kg m⁻³ and wheat CWP remained largely stable.

Objective

• Characterize the long-term spatiotemporal patterns of crop yield and water productivity for major crop types.
• Identify the dominant factors and interaction effects associated with water productivity and examine how their explanatory power changed over time.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: 30 m resolution, covering an area of approximately 1.12 Mha in the upper Yellow River basin.
• Temporal Scale: 2000–2021, with daily to annual temporal resolutions for various datasets.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: GeoDetector model, Mann-Kendall trend analysis, and remote sensing-based approaches (CASA model, SEBAL model).
• Data sources: Remote sensing products (land cover maps, NDVI time series, ETa data), meteorological datasets (ChinaMet), groundwater level observations.

Main Results

• Maize CWP increased markedly, reaching 3.44 kg m⁻³ in 2021.
• Sunflower CWP increased from 0.76 to 1.08 kg m⁻³.
• Wheat CWP remained largely stable.
• The GeoDetector analysis showed that annual maximum NDVImax,a and NDSI had the highest q values for CWP.

Contributions

• This study provides a comprehensive understanding of long-term crop-specific patterns of yield and water productivity in a large arid irrigation district.
• The results support differentiated management of irrigation, salinity, and cropping structure in large arid irrigation districts.

Funding

• Not specified

Citation

@article{Li2026Spatiotemporal,
  author = {Li, Xinyi and Xu, Xu and Sun, Chen and Ren, Dongyang and Huang, Quanzhong},
  title = {Spatiotemporal patterns of crop water productivity under changing water–salinity conditions in an arid irrigation district of the upper Yellow River basin},
  journal = {Agricultural Water Management},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110758},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110758}
}