Adaptability of Maize Farmers to Drought and the Selection of Irrigation Period—A Survey of Irrigation Behavior of Farmers in the Three Provinces of Huang-Huai-Hai, China

Wenjia Hou and Shudong Zhou ()
Additional contact information
Wenjia Hou: College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Shudong Zhou: College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 15, 1-16

Abstract: The summer maize area of Huang-Huai-Hai is the main summer maize production area in China, droughts occur frequently during the growth period of summer maize and irrigation water resources are scarce in this region. This paper studied the adaptability of maize farmers to drought and the selection of irrigation period in the three provinces of Huang-Huai-Hai. The adaptability index of irrigation at different growth stages was analyzed by establishing an extended C-D production function model, while the marginal income of irrigation in each growth period was calculated based on the estimation results of adaptability index model. The results showed that: (1) The growth period with the largest adaptability index in the three provinces of Huang-Huai-Hai was milk ripening stage. The adaptability index in milk ripening stage in Hebei, Henan, and Shandong was 1.063, 1.081, and 1.053, respectively. (2) The maize key growth periods of water sensitivity in the three provinces of Huang-Huai-Hai were tasseling period and milk ripening period, and in most cases, the irrigation period of farmers was consistent with the key growth period of water sensitivity. (3) In Hebei, Henan, and Shandong provinces, the marginal benefits of irrigation were greater than the marginal costs in each growth period. The marginal income of irrigation during tasseling period in the three provinces was relatively large, and tasseling period was the preferred irrigation period of most farmers. To optimize future irrigation water allocation, farmers should prioritize ensuring sufficient water supply during tasseling stage and milk ripening stage in Hebei and Shandong, and during big bell mouth stage and tasseling stage in Henan.

Keywords: maize; drought; irrigation behavior; adaptability index; selection of irrigation period (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/15/11759/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/15/11759/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:15:p:11759-:d:1206841

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().