气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Importance of snow and glacier meltwater for agriculture on the Indo-Gangetic Plain

CCPortal

DOI	10.1038/s41893-019-0305-3
	Importance of snow and glacier meltwater for agriculture on the Indo-Gangetic Plain
	Biemans H.; Siderius C.; Lutz A.F.; Nepal S.; Ahmad B.; Hassan T.; von Bloh W.; Wijngaard R.R.; Wester P.; Shrestha A.B.; Immerzeel W.W.
发表日期	2019
ISSN	2398-9629
起始页码	594
结束页码	601
卷号	2 期号:7
英文摘要	Densely populated floodplains downstream of Asia’s mountain ranges depend heavily on mountain water resources, in particular for irrigation. An intensive and complex multi-cropping irrigated agricultural system has developed here to optimize the use of these mountain water resources in conjunction with monsoonal rainfall. Snow and glacier melt thereby modulate the seasonal pattern of river flows and, together with groundwater, provide water when rainfall is scarce. Climate change is expected to weaken this modulating effect, with potentially strong effects on food production in one of the world’s breadbaskets. Here we quantify the space-, time- and crop-specific dependence of agriculture in the Indo-Gangetic Plains on mountain water resources, using a coupled state-of-the-art, high-resolution, cryosphere–hydrology–crop model. We show that dependence varies strongly in space and time and is highest in the Indus basin, where in the pre-monsoon season up to 60% of the total irrigation withdrawals originate from mountain snow and glacier melt, and that it contributes an additional 11% to total crop production. Although dependence in the floodplains of the Ganges is comparatively lower, meltwater is still essential during the dry season, in particular for crops such as sugar cane. The dependency on meltwater in the Brahmaputra is negligible. In total, 129 million farmers in the Indus and Ganges substantially depend on snow and glacier melt for their livelihoods. Snow and glacier melt provides enough water to grow food crops to sustain a balanced diet for 38 million people. These findings provide important information for agricultural and climate change adaptation policies in a climate change hot spot where shifts in water availability and demand are projected as a result of climate change and socio-economic growth. © 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
语种	英语
scopus关键词	Crops; Cultivation; Economics; Floods; Groundwater; Irrigation; Landforms; Rain; Rivers; Snow; Sugar cane; Agricultural system; Climate change adaptation; Crop production; Food production; Indo-Gangetic Plains; Modulating effect; Seasonal patterns; Water availability and demand; Climate change
来源期刊	Nature Sustainability
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/163059
作者单位	Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands; International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, Nepal; London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom; FutureWater, Wageningen, Netherlands; Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands; Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad, Pakistan; Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, Dhaka, Bangladesh; Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Biemans H.,Siderius C.,Lutz A.F.,et al. Importance of snow and glacier meltwater for agriculture on the Indo-Gangetic Plain[J],2019,2(7).
APA	Biemans H..,Siderius C..,Lutz A.F..,Nepal S..,Ahmad B..,...&Immerzeel W.W..(2019).Importance of snow and glacier meltwater for agriculture on the Indo-Gangetic Plain.Nature Sustainability,2(7).
MLA	Biemans H.,et al."Importance of snow and glacier meltwater for agriculture on the Indo-Gangetic Plain".Nature Sustainability 2.7(2019).