Evaluating Agricultural Sustainability Based on the Water–Energy–Food Nexus in the Chenmengquan Irrigation District of China

Chang Liu, Zhanyu Zhang, Shuya Liu, Qiaoyuan Liu, Baoping Feng and Julia Tanzer
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Chang Liu: College of Agricultural Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Zhanyu Zhang: College of Agricultural Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Shuya Liu: College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Qiaoyuan Liu: Shandong Hydrology and Water Resource Bureau of Yellow River Conservancy, Jinan 250000, China
Baoping Feng: College of Agricultural Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Julia Tanzer: Institute for Water Quality and Resource Management, TU Wien, Vienna 1040, Austria

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 19, 1-16

Abstract: Agriculture is one of the largest consumers of water and energy. This paper evaluated the agricultural sustainability of the Chenmengquan irrigation district of China based on the water–energy–food nexus. One objective weighting method and one subjective weighting method were integrated, based on game theory, and a matter–element model was constructed to evaluate agricultural sustainability for the research region. The sensitivity of each index to the evaluation class was also analyzed. The results showed that agricultural sustainability was moderate in 2006–2012 and high in 2012–2015. The indexes, which represent water-use efficiency and yield per unit area of crops, had higher sensitivities in the context of the present case study. The results also indicated that agricultural sustainability had a comparatively positive trend between 2012 and 2015, and that pesticide utilization was the most important issue for agricultural sustainability. The approach of using the combination of a weighting method, based upon game theory, and the use of the matter–element model provides a guide for the evaluation of agricultural sustainability.

Keywords: agricultural sustainability; water–energy–food nexus; combination weighting method; the matter–element model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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