Inter-Regional Food-Water-Income Synergy Through Bi-Level Crop Redistribution Model Coupled With Virtual Water: A Case Study of China’s Hetao Irrigation District

Abstract

Incorporating water footprints and virtual water into crop redistribution provides a new approach for efficient water resources utilization and synergistic development of water surplus and scarce regions. In this work, the absolute and comparative advantage of the production-based blue and gray water footprint (PWF_blue and PWF_gray), the calorie-based blue water footprint (CWF_blue) and the net benefit-based blue water footprint (NBWF_blue) were used as coefficients to establish a bi-level crop redistribution model. The mode considers upper-level decision makers interested in maximizing food security and ecological security and lower-level decision makers interested in water use efficiency, water use benefits and net benefits. The model was applied in the Hetao Irrigation District (HID), China. The results showed that after optimization, the PWF_blue, CWF_blue, NBWF_blue, and gray water footprint (GWF) of the HID were reduced by 23.32%, 5.60%, 17.40%, and 6.67%, respectively. National benefits were improved, especially when considering synergistic optimization, although the net benefits of HID was affected. The calorie supply increased by 9.6 × 10⁹ kcal, the GWF decreased by 8.29 × 10⁶ m³, and water use efficiency and benefits were improved in China. In contrast, the calorie supply and the net benefits of the HID decreased, while the GWF increased. Moreover, multiple stakeholders were involved in crop redistribution and required national synergies. The bi-level model proved more suitable than the multi-objective model. The model proposed in this work considers synergies outside the region in crop redistribution within the region, and can provide new insight for water and soil resources management in arid and semi-arid regions.