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Drought vulnerability assessment for maize in the semiarid region of northwestern China

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Abstract

Maize is a major crop in the semiarid region of northwestern China, and, in recent years, severe drought events have often severely impacted local maize production. In this paper, an assessment model for maize drought vulnerability in the semiarid region of northwestern China was constructed after an in-depth analysis of factors linked to drought vulnerability. The model establishes an evaluation index system for drought vulnerability and assesses the level of environmental sensitivity, degree of exposure, crop sensitivity, and adaptability. An assessment and a regionalization analysis of maize drought vulnerability were then conducted for the semiarid region of northwestern China. The results showed the spatial distribution characteristics of environmental sensitivity, degree of exposure, crop sensitivity, and adaptability. The high and sub high vulnerable areas for maize were located mainly in the northern and southern parts of the warm temperate zone (District I A) and covered most of the central region of the middle temperature zone (District II A). The low and sub low vulnerable areas were in the central part of District I A, in the eastern and western part of District II A, and across the whole of the warm temperate zone (Districts I B), the middle temperature zone (Districts II B), and the plateau area of the sub temperate zone (District III). The main factors affecting high drought vulnerability varied across different areas. These results provide a theoretical basis for the risk management of maize production and will help prevent drought disasters in the semiarid region of northwestern China.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the China Crop Farming Information Network of the Ministry of Agriculture, which provided the maize planting data. The authors also thank the many students at Lanzhou University who provided assistance with data management. Finally, the authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the NSFC (National Natural Science Foundation of China) (Grant No. 41605089, 41630426), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2015M572666XB), and the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province, China (Grant No. 1606RJYA284).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Arid Climatic Change and Reducing Disaster of Gansu Province, Key Open Laboratory of Arid Change and Disaster Reduction of CMA, Lanzhou Institute of Arid Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, 2070 East Donggang Road, Lanzhou, 730020, Gansu, China

    Ying Wang, Qiang Zhang & Yu-bi Yao

  2. College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China

    Ying Wang

Authors
  1. Ying Wang
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  2. Qiang Zhang
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Correspondence to Qiang Zhang.

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Highlights

• The physiological characteristics, natural environmental factors, and socioeconomic factors affecting maize production in the northwest semiarid region and the principles of comprehensiveness, systematic, and operability were used to design four criterion layers, which were environmental sensitivity, exposure degree, crop sensitivity, and adaptability. Nine indicators were used to establish the evaluation index system for maize drought vulnerability.

• The entropy weight method was used to determine the weight of each index in the maize vulnerability assessment model so that the objectivity of the index weight could be improved.

• According to the maize vulnerability assessment model and evaluation index system of maize drought vulnerability, we get the spatial distribution characteristics of maize drought vulnerability in the semiarid region of northwest China and reveal the leading factors and key factors of maize drought vulnerability in different regions. This study provides basic data and theoretical support for the maize industry and information about drought resistance in the semiarid region of northwest China.

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Wang, Y., Zhang, Q. & Yao, Yb. Drought vulnerability assessment for maize in the semiarid region of northwestern China. Theor Appl Climatol 140, 1207–1220 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-020-03138-y

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