Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.0
3.0
Journals
Water
Special Issues
Agricultural Water and Land Resources Planning and Management: Challenges and...
water-logo
Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Water Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Agricultural Water and Land Resources Planning and Management: Challenges and Endeavors

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Resources Management, Policy and Governance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2026 | Viewed by 2058

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Qingling Geng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Geoscience and Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China
Interests: agricultural water and land management; water use efficiency; land use change; climate change impacts; water–land–food–carbon nexus
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Zhihui Tian

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Geoscience and Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China
Interests: water and land management; land use change; climate change; urban land expansion
Dr. Lijie Shi

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
College of Hydraulic Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China
Interests: agricultural water management; drought stress; agricultural adaptation measures under climate change

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water and land resources are two of the most vital resources in agricultural and food production systems. However, the increasing demands for water and land resources due to population growth and economic development, coupled with unreasonable utilization structure, uneven distribution, and spatial mismatch between water and land resources, make agricultural water and land resources under unprecedented pressure. Global climate change and land use change pose more serious challenges to planning and management of agricultural water and land resources.

This Special Issue seeks discussions and review works on the current conditions and evaluation of agricultural water and land resources regionally and globally, major issues and challenges, and also research reports addressing and evaluating the effects of some environmental stressors (e.g., water scarcity issues, land resources degradation, and cultivated land that is occupied) on agricultural water and land resource utilization (including blue water and green water), as well as the endeavors and measures of stakeholders and scientists in the effective utilization, planning, and management of agricultural water and land resources. Works on agricultural water and land resource management based on the water–energy–food or water–land–food nexuses are also welcomed.

Dr. Qingling Geng
Prof. Dr. Zhihui Tian
Dr. Lijie Shi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • water resources
  • land resources
  • agricultural water use
  • water and land resource matching
  • agricultural water and land resource management
  • optimal allocation
  • climate change
  • sustainable management
  • resource carrying capacity

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 4261 KB  
Article
Research on Evolutionary Patterns of Water Source–Water Use Systems from a Synergetic Perspective: A Case Study of Henan Province, China
by Shengyan Zhang, Tengchao Li, Henghua Gong, Shujie Hu, Zhuoqian Li, Ninghao Wang, Yuqin He and Tianye Wang
Water 2025, 17(19), 2888; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17192888 - 3 Oct 2025
Abstract
China faces the persistent challenge of uneven spatiotemporal water resource distribution, constraining economic and social development while exacerbating regional disparities. Achieving co-evolution between water source systems and water use systems is thus a critical proposition in water resources management. Based on synergetics theory, [...] Read more.
China faces the persistent challenge of uneven spatiotemporal water resource distribution, constraining economic and social development while exacerbating regional disparities. Achieving co-evolution between water source systems and water use systems is thus a critical proposition in water resources management. Based on synergetics theory, this study takes Henan Province, a typical water-scarce social–ecological system, as the research object, and constructs a quantitative analysis framework for supply–demand bidirectional synergy. It systematically reveals the evolution patterns of water resource systems under the mutual feedback mechanism between water sources and water use. Findings indicate that between 2012 and 2022, the synergy degree of Henan’s water resource system increased by nearly 40%, exhibiting significant spatiotemporal differentiation: spatially “lower north, higher south”, and dynamically shifting from demand-constrained to supply-optimized. Specifically, the water source system’s order degree showed a “higher northwest, lower southeast” spatial pattern. Since the operation of the South-to-North Water Diversion Middle Route Project, the provincial average order degree increased significantly (annual growth rate of 0.01 units), though with distinct regional disparities. The water use system’s order degree also exhibited “lower north, higher south” pattern but achieved greater growth (annual growth rate of 0.03 units), with narrowing north–south gaps driven by improved management efficiency and technological capacity. This study innovatively integrates water source systems and water use systems into a unified analytical framework, systematically elucidating the intrinsic evolution mechanisms of water resource systems from the perspective of supply–demand mutual feedback. It provides theoretical and methodological support for advancing systematic water resource governance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Water and Land Resources Planning and Management: Challenges and Endeavors)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 3185 KB  
Article
Daily Water Requirements of Vegetation in the Urban Green Spaces in the City of Panaji, India
by Manish Ramaiah and Ram Avtar
Water 2025, 17(10), 1487; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17101487 - 15 May 2025
Viewed by 887
Abstract
From the urban sustainability perspective and from the steps essential for regulating/balancing the microclimate features, the creation and maintenance of urban green spaces (UGS) are vital. The UGS include vegetation of any kind in urban areas such as parks, gardens, vertical gardens, trees, [...] Read more.
From the urban sustainability perspective and from the steps essential for regulating/balancing the microclimate features, the creation and maintenance of urban green spaces (UGS) are vital. The UGS include vegetation of any kind in urban areas such as parks, gardens, vertical gardens, trees, hedge plants, and roadside plants. This “urban green infrastructure” is a cost-effective and energy-saving means for ensuring sustainable development. The relationship between urban landscape patterns and microclimate needs to be sufficiently understood to make urban living ecologically, economically, and ergonomically justifiable. In this regard, information on diverse patterns of land use intensity or spatial growth is essential to delineate both beneficial and adverse impacts on the urban environment. With this background, the present study aimed to address water requirements of UGS plants and trees during the non-rainy months from Panaji city (Koppen classification: Am) situated on the west coast of India, which receives over 2750 mm of rainfall, almost exclusively during June–September. During the remaining eight months, irrigating the plants in the UGS becomes a serious necessity. In this regard, the daily water requirements (DWR) of 34 tree species, several species of hedge plants, and lawn areas were estimated using standard methods that included primary (field survey-based) and secondary (inputs from key-informant survey questionnaires) data collection to address water requirement of the UGS vegetation. Monthly evapotranspiration rates (ETo) were derived in this study and were used for calculating the water requirement of the UGS. The day–night average ETo was over 8 mm, which means that there appears to be an imminent water stress in most UGS of the city in particular during the January–May period. The DWR in seven gardens of Panaji city were ~25 L/tree, 6.77 L/m2 hedge plants, and 4.57 L/m2 groundcover (=lawns). The water requirements for the entire UGS in Panaji city were calculated. Using this information, the estimated total daily volume of water required for the entire UGS of 1.86 km2 in Panaji city is 7.10 million liters. The current supply from borewells of 64,200 L vis a vis means that the ETo-based DWR of 184,086 L is at a shortage of over 2.88 times and is far inadequate for meeting the daily demand of hedge plants and lawn/groundcover. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Water and Land Resources Planning and Management: Challenges and Endeavors)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 4844 KB  
Article
Spatio-Temporal Changes of Terrestrial Water Storage in Five Provinces of Northwest China from 2002 to 2022 and Their Driving Factors
by Aimin Li, Zekun Wu, Meng Yin and Zhenqiang Guo
Water 2025, 17(10), 1417; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17101417 - 8 May 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 500
Abstract
This study aims to explore the spatio-temporal changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) in the five provinces of Northwest China and to assess the influences of various driving factors on the changes in TWS. Based on the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) [...] Read more.
This study aims to explore the spatio-temporal changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) in the five provinces of Northwest China and to assess the influences of various driving factors on the changes in TWS. Based on the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite data of the five provinces from April 2002 to December 2022, combined with datasets of various driving factors (precipitation, evapotranspiration, runoff, and anthropogenic water use) from 1980 to 2022, a trend analysis was conducted using Sen’s slope method and Mann–Kendall (M-K) tests to characterize the spatial–temporal changes in TWS. The water balance method and quantification of contribution rates were used to analyze the spatio-temporal response of the change in TWS to driving factors and the contributions of driving factors thereto. The results showed that the eastern part of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the northern parts of Shaanxi Province and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region belonged to the decreasing centers of TWS, while the northern part of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau belonged to the enriching center of TWS, with a decreasing trend at a rate of 2.86 mm/yr. Precipitation contributed positively to the change in TWS and had a high spatio-temporal response, while the other driving factors (evapotranspiration, runoff, and anthropogenic water use) all contributed negatively to certain extents. The contribution rates of precipitation, evapotranspiration, runoff, and anthropogenic water use were 0.363, −0.265, −0.258 and −0.115, respectively. The results are helpful for the scientific planning and management of water resources in Northwest China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Water and Land Resources Planning and Management: Challenges and Endeavors)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop