Synergistic Reduction and Common Driving Forces of Agricultural Pollution and Carbon Emissions Based on Agricultural Grey Water Footprint

Hua Zhu, Qing Zhang and Junfeng Xiong ()
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Hua Zhu: School of Geomatics, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou 310018, China
Qing Zhang: School of Geomatics, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou 310018, China
Junfeng Xiong: State Key Laboratory of Lake and Watershed Science for Water Security, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 211135, China

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-24

Abstract: Managing agricultural water pollution (AWP) and agricultural carbon emissions (ACE) together is crucial for addressing the global water resources crisis and climate challenges. Traditional water quality indicators are limited in large-scale evaluations of AWP. The common trends of ACE and AWP, as well as the spatial heterogeneity of their common driving factors also remain unclear. This study introduces a novel framework for analyzing the synergistic reduction of AWP and ACE from the perspective of agricultural grey water footprint (AGWF) and examines disparities in common driving factors across areas with differing levels of economic development and pollution intensities in Zhejiang Province. The results indicate that ACE and AGWF in Zhejiang showed an upward trend from 2010 to 2012, followed by a significant decline from 2013 to 2020. A consistent synergistic reduction trend in grey water footprint and carbon emissions was identified in both the planting and livestock husbandry sectors across Zhejiang. Socio-economic factors jointly influenced the reductions in ACE and AGWF, with technological level and the labor-to-research-and-development (labor-R&D) ratio being the primary drivers, accounting for 79.41% and 78.38% of these reductions, respectively. The impact of agricultural R&D expenditure intensity on AGWF and ACE exhibited spatiotemporal heterogeneity and sectoral disparities. The key to promoting the synergistic reduction of AGWF and ACE lies in advancing the research, development, and application of green agricultural technologies especially in regions where such technologies are not yet fully developed. The results provide a theoretical framework and practical implementation for the integrated management of AWP and ACE, as well as sustainable agricultural policy formulation.

Keywords: agriculture; grey water footprint; carbon emission; synergistic reduction; driving force (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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