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Cereal Water Footprint in Arid and Semi-arid Regions: Past, Today and Future

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Environmental Footprints of Crops

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Abstract

Food security, drought, environmental protection and industrial development have necessitated more efficient management of water resources. Population growth and unsustainable agricultural development in different parts of the world, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, has led to a more realistic approach and the use of a comprehensive and efficient water footprint (WF) index (separately for green water, blue water and gray water) in determining the amount of water consumed by agricultural products. On the other hand, any climate change will cause a change in rainfall patterns and consequently change the share of blue and green water used in agricultural products. Therefore, the importance of cereal WF in arid and semi-arid regions has been discussed. Estimating the ecological WF and virtual water trade in various products in arid and semi-arid regions such as Iran can help better manage the limited water resources. Finally, the importance of accurate water measurement is highlighted to reliably estimate the water footprint.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Water Sciences and Engineering, Imam Khomeini International University (IKIU), Qazvin, Iran

    Hadi Ramezani Etedali, Mojgan Ahmadi & Mohammad Bijankhan

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  1. Hadi Ramezani Etedali
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  2. Mojgan Ahmadi
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Correspondence to Hadi Ramezani Etedali .

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    Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu

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Etedali, H.R., Ahmadi, M., Bijankhan, M. (2022). Cereal Water Footprint in Arid and Semi-arid Regions: Past, Today and Future. In: Muthu, S.S. (eds) Environmental Footprints of Crops. Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0534-6_3

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