IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2017i1p35-d124205.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Water Efficient Alternative Crops for Sustainable Agriculture along the Tarim Basin: A Comparison of the Economic Potentials of Apocynum pictum , Chinese Red Date and Cotton in Xinjiang, China

Author

Listed:
  • Aihemaitijiang Rouzi

    (Ecology Postdoc Research Station, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China
    Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology of Ministry of Education, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830046, China)

  • Ümüt Halik

    (Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology of Ministry of Education, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830046, China
    College of Resources & Environmental Sciences, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China)

  • Niels Thevs

    (World Agroforestry Center & University of Central Asia, 138 Toktogol Street, Bishkek 720001, Kyrgyzstan)

  • Martin Welp

    (Faculty of Forest and Environment, Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, University of Applied Sciences, Alfred-Moeller-Str. 1, 16225 Eberswalde, Germany)

  • Tayierjiang Aishan

    (Institute of Arid Ecology & Environment, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China)

Abstract

This study explores a paradigm of sustainable land use in the oases along the Tarim River of northwest China, where a fragile, semi-arid riparian ecosystem is being damaged by excessive land and water use for agriculture, especially for the growing of cotton. The reliance of agriculture on water-demanding cash crops in this region poses a grave threat to survival of the natural Tugai vegetation in the area and to the long-term sustainability of the region. We explored the hypothesis that the species Apocynum pictum ( A. pictum ), known as Lop-Kendir by locals, and the Chinese red date ( Zyzyphus jujube ) may act as sustainable crop substitutes for the region, thereby replacing the widely distributed cash crop of cotton that has high water demands. Therefore, we investigated current utilization and cost-revenue structure of these two alternative plants and compared the results to cotton. Three natural resource management types of A. pictum were both identified in the wild and cultivation, with cost-revenue analysis carried out for each. The results show that all three types of institutional arrangements of natural resources, which are namely open access, ranching and farming, were present in our study and at various levels for A. pictum. A. pictum farming costs 16,250.25 yuan/ha, generates 49,014.45 yuan/ha of revenue from raw materials and brings a profit of 32,764.2 yuan/ha, which is the highest of all three cash crops compared. The Chinese government encourages Chinese red date plantations with a “Grain for green” campaign in the Tarim Basin with this plant being more profitable than cotton, which could serve to diversify the region’s agriculture. We conclude that A. pictum offers opportunities for the restoration of vegetation in riparian ecosystems on salinized sites under the arid conditions of the Tarim Basin. Furthermore, it can serve as a viable land-use alternative to cotton for cash crop agriculture, as it may generate a certain income in the form of tea and fibers as well as fodder for livestock.

Suggested Citation

  • Aihemaitijiang Rouzi & Ümüt Halik & Niels Thevs & Martin Welp & Tayierjiang Aishan, 2017. "Water Efficient Alternative Crops for Sustainable Agriculture along the Tarim Basin: A Comparison of the Economic Potentials of Apocynum pictum , Chinese Red Date and Cotton in Xinjiang, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2017:i:1:p:35-:d:124205
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/1/35/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/1/35/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Liu, Shouying & Carter, Michael R. & Yao, Yang, 1998. "Dimensions and diversity of property rights in rural China: Dilemmas on the road to further reform," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(10), pages 1789-1806, October.
    2. Niels Thevs, 2011. "Water Scarcity and Allocation in the Tarim Basin: Decision Structures and Adaptations on the Local Level," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 40(3), pages 113-137.
    3. Zhao, Xufu & Tisdell, Clement A., 2009. "The Sustainability of Cotton Production in China and in Australia: Comparative Economic and Environmental Issues," Economics, Ecology and Environment Working Papers 55338, University of Queensland, School of Economics.
    4. Edella Schlager & Elinor Ostrom, 1992. "Property-Rights Regimes and Natural Resources: A Conceptual Analysis," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 68(3), pages 249-262.
    5. Feike, Til & Khor, Ling Yee & Mamitimin, Yusuyunjiang & Ha, Nan & Li, Lin & Abdusalih, Nurbay & Xiao, Haifeng & Doluschitz, Reiner, 2017. "Determinants of cotton farmers’ irrigation water management in arid Northwestern China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 1-10.
    6. MacDonald, Stephen & Gale, Fred & Hansen, James, 2015. "Cotton Policy in China," MPRA Paper 70863, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Clement A. Tisdell, 2005. "Economics of Environmental Conservation, Second Edition," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3272.
    8. Chapagain, A.K. & Hoekstra, A.Y. & Savenije, H.H.G. & Gautam, R., 2006. "The water footprint of cotton consumption: An assessment of the impact of worldwide consumption of cotton products on the water resources in the cotton producing countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 186-203, November.
    9. Donna Mitchell & Ryan B. Williams & Darren Hudson & Phillip Johnson, 2017. "A Monte Carlo analysis on the impact of climate change on future crop choice and water use in Uzbekistan," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(4), pages 697-709, August.
    10. Barbier,Edward B., 2007. "Natural Resources and Economic Development," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521706513.
    11. Ho, Peter, 2005. "Institutions in Transition: Land Ownership, Property Rights, and Social Conflict in China," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199280698.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Honghong Ma & Tao Yang & Xinxiang Niu & Zhenan Hou & Xingwang Ma, 2021. "Sound Water and Nitrogen Management Decreases Nitrogen Losses from a Drip-Fertigated Cotton Field in Northwestern China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-13, January.
    2. Harris,Colin & Cai,Meina & Murtazashvili,Ilia & Murtazashvili,Jennifer Brick, 2020. "The Origins and Consequences of Property Rights," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108969055, January.
    3. Daniel You-Ren Yang & Hung-Kai Wang, 2008. "Dilemmas of Local Governance under the Development Zone Fever in China: A Case Study of the Suzhou Region," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(5-6), pages 1037-1054, May.
    4. Liu, Shouying & Ma, Sen & Yin, Lijuan & Zhu, Jiong, 2023. "Land titling, human capital misallocation, and agricultural productivity in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    5. Lanchih Po, 2011. "Property Rights Reforms and Changing Grassroots Governance in China’s Urban—Rural Peripheries: The Case of Changping District in Beijing," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(3), pages 509-528, February.
    6. Feike, Til & Khor, Ling Yee & Mamitimin, Yusuyunjiang & Ha, Nan & Li, Lin & Abdusalih, Nurbay & Xiao, Haifeng & Doluschitz, Reiner, 2017. "Determinants of cotton farmers’ irrigation water management in arid Northwestern China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 1-10.
    7. Haque, A.B.M. Mahfuzul & Visser, Leontine E. & Dey, Madan M., 2011. "Institutional Arrangements in Seasonal Floodplain Management under Community-based Aquaculture in Bangladesh," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-19, June.
    8. John Giles & Ren Mu, 2018. "Village Political Economy, Land Tenure Insecurity, and the Rural to Urban Migration Decision: Evidence from China," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 100(2), pages 521-544.
    9. Wang, Xiaobing & Yu, Xiaohua, 2011. "Scale Effects, Technical Efficiency and Land Lease in China," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 115736, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Bergstén, Sabina & Stjernström, Olof & Pettersson, Örjan, 2018. "Experiences and emotions among private forest owners versus public interests: Why ownership matters," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 801-811.
    11. Deslatte, Aaron & Szmigiel-Rawska, Katarzyna & Tavares, António F. & Ślawska, Justyna & Karsznia, Izabela & Łukomska, Julita, 2022. "Land use institutions and social-ecological systems: A spatial analysis of local landscape changes in Poland," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    12. David Aubin & Frédéric Varone, 2013. "Getting Access to Water: Property Rights or Public Policy Strategies?," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 31(1), pages 154-167, February.
    13. Ignacio Cazcarro & Rosa Duarte & Miguel Martín-Retortillo & Vicente Pinilla & Ana Serrano, 2015. "How Sustainable is the Increase in the Water Footprint of the Spanish Agricultural Sector? A Provincial Analysis between 1955 and 2005–2010," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-26, April.
    14. Qin, Pin & Carlsson, Fredrik & Xu, Jintao, 2009. "Forestland Reform in China: What do the Farmers Want? A Choice Experiment on Farmers’ Property Rights Preferences," Working Papers in Economics 370, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    15. Gani, Azmat & Scrimgeour, Frank, 2014. "Modeling governance and water pollution using the institutional ecological economic framework," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 363-372.
    16. Bai, Yizhou & Xue, Cheng, 2021. "An empirical study on the regulated Chinese agricultural commodity futures market based on skew Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    17. Rakotonarivo, O. Sarobidy & Bredahl Jacobsen, Jette & Poudyal, Mahesh & Rasoamanana, Alexandra & Hockley, Neal, 2018. "Estimating welfare impacts where property rights are contested: methodological and policy implications," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 71-83.
    18. Ehsan Qasemipour & Ali Abbasi & Farhad Tarahomi, 2020. "Water-Saving Scenarios Based on Input–Output Analysis and Virtual Water Concept: A Case in Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, January.
    19. Yongchun Yang & Deli Zhang & Qingmin Meng & Corrin McCarn, 2015. "Urban Residential Land Use Reconstruction under Dual-Track Mechanism of Market Socialism in China: A Case Study of Chengdu," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-17, December.
    20. Jia, Lili, 2012. "Land fragmentation and off-farm labor supply in China," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 66, number 66, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2017:i:1:p:35-:d:124205. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.