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Indicator Assessment
* See definition of GVA and its units in Units section of this indicator.
Between 2005 and 2013, the water intensity of crop production in Europe improved. There was around 9 % less water input in 2013 than in 2005 for the same amount of gross value added.
Overall, the regional trends in water intensity of crop production are the following:
Between 2005 and 2013, the average water intensity of crop production in Europe was around 6 m3 for each unit of gross value added generated. Because of the large differences in the structure of agricultural production and climatic conditions across Europe, there is a high degree of uncertainty with regard to inter-regional comparisons of water intensity. Therefore, this indicator should only be used for comparisons and to understand changes within the same region.
In western Europe, during 2005-2013, on average water input (irrigation plus soil moisture) was 5 m3 for one unit of gross value added (GVA). The water intensity of crop production improved by 5% comparing 2013 to 2005. The agricultural sector in this region is rather advanced with relatively low water input and high gross value added per hectare. Irrigation abstractions are a small part of the total water input to crops because of favourable climate conditions. Irrigated areas are proportionately larger in France, the Netherlands and Denmark.
In southern Europe, during 2005-2013, on average 6 m3 of water was input to crops to generate one unit of GVA. The water intensity of crop production improved by 13 % comparing 2013 to 2005. It should be noted that irrigation is a major part of the total water input to crops in southern Europe, both for climatic reasons and because of selected crop patterns. However, selected crop patterns in southern Europe, including olives, vines, fruit trees, cotton etc., are associated with relatively higher GVA per hectare (subsidies excluded), compared with other areas in Europe. Furthermore, deficit irrigation, which is a common practice in southern Europe, is known to increase the water productivity of crops.
In eastern Europe, during 2005-2013, on average 7 m3 of water was input to crops to generate one unit of GVA. The water intensity of crop production improved by 18 % comparing 2013 to 2005. Improvements in water infrastructure and agricultural equipment resulted in reduced water losses and increased harvested yields.
In western Europe, during 2005-2013, the average water intensity of crop production was the lowest in the Netherlands (0.6 m3 for one unit of GVA). This relatively good performance can be explained by the widespread use of sprinkler irrigation in the country, the high proportion of crop production in greenhouses, the remarkably high crop yields compared with the European average and the low level of crop subsidies. The wider environmental impacts of greenhouses, other than on water intensity, are out of the scope of this analysis, but it should be noted that the their energy intensity (e.g. heating and cooling needs) is relatively high. By definition, the calculation of the GVA of crop production has taken into account the related energy costs as intermediate consumption.
In southern Europe, during 2005-2013, the average water intensity of crop production was the lowest in Malta (2.2 m3 for one unit of GVA). Despite its high average irrigation abstraction rate (7 964 m3/ha), Malta uses remarkably high levels of drip irrigation, thus reducing the potential for on-farm water losses and optimising the uptake of water from crops. In addition, Malta has made substantial investments in water reuse, including in crop irrigation.
In eastern Europe, during 2005-2013, the average water intensity of crop production was the lowest in Slovenia (2.8 m3 for one unit of GVA). Slovenia has one of the highest rates of drip irrigation in Europe and delivers higher yields of harvested produce and a higher added value per hectare of land than any of the other eastern European countries.
The differences between countries and geographical regions may be attributed to several factors, including differences in climatic conditions, irrigation technologies, agricultural practices, the organisation of crop production (e.g. the size of the average holding), training of farmers, equipment, crop patterns, crop quality, soil conditions, and market structures and prices. All of these factors can have significant impacts on the irrigation abstraction rate and the added value of crop production.
Irrigation and its impacts on the water intensity of crop production
In semi-arid areas, such as parts of southern Europe, irrigation is responsible for almost all agricultural abstractions. In these areas, where water is a limiting factor for climate-related reasons, rain-fed conditions may not support satisfactory levels of crop yield and quality. Therefore, irrigation is required to enable crop production. In more humid and temperate areas, such as parts of western and eastern Europe, crop irrigation accounts for a much lower proportion of total agricultural abstractions. In these areas, irrigation provides a way of regulating seasonal crop water availability to match seasonal crop water needs. Therefore, irrigation reduces the risk of crop failure during periods of low rainfall or drought and thereby stabilises crop production.
In 2013, the total irrigated area in Europe was 10.3 million ha, accounting for roughly 6 % of the total utilised agricultural area (UAA). The highest proportions of irrigated areas were in southern Europe, such as in Malta (28 %), Greece (27 %), Cyprus (23 %), Italy (21 %), Spain (13 %) and Portugal (13 %). Remarkably high proportions of irrigated area were also observed in two western countries: Denmark (10 %) and the Netherlands (8 %). The latter seems to be related to the cultivation of crops that require irrigation (e.g. maize, potatoes, sugar beets and fruit/vegetables), as well as to local soil conditions (e.g. drought-sensitive sandy soils in northern Brabant and Limburg, the Netherlands). On the contrary, there were many eastern and western countries with negligible proportions of irrigated area (e.g. Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovenia and the Czech republic).
Irrigation system plays a significant role in total volume of water abstraction in a country or region, and experiments have shown that it may affect crop yields. Low-efficiency irrigation systems (e.g. surface rather than sprinkler or drip irrigation) are associated with higher rates of water loss because of leakages, excess run-off and evapotranspiration. In addition, drip irrigation and precision agriculture are known to increase water productivity and harvested yields. In Bulgaria and Portugal, surface irrigation is still the prevailing method, used by 94 % and 63 % of the total number of agricultural holdings in these countries, respectively. This partly explains why Bulgaria has the highest irrigation abstraction rate among eastern European countries and why Portugal has the highest irrigation abstraction rate among southern European countries. On the other hand, many countries that have a relatively low water intensity of crop production are dominated by either drip irrigation (e.g. Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia and Spain) or sprinkler irrigation (e.g. Denmark and the Netherlands).
Finally, the high irrigation abstraction rate in southern Europe is mainly explained by (1) the warmer climatic conditions, which increase the water demands for individual crops; (2) the existing conditions of water scarcity, which limit natural water availability for crops; and (3) the local crop patterns, which include many water-demanding (but often fairly commercial/tradeable) crops. Water infrastructure may not be the key issue in southern Europe, unlike in other parts of Europe, but there is still potential to upgrade water infrastructure and save crucial volumes of water. For example, there are many Greek river basin districts where agriculture is the main economic sector that suffer from water scarcity, but their crops, such as cotton, fruit and vegetables — which are considered important products for the industry and for exports — have high irrigation needs. Greece has installed a drip and sprinkler irrigation system — relatively, one of the largest of its kind in Europe — to reduce on-farm water losses, but its conveyance infrastructure faces issues because of ageing and poor efficiency. In eastern Europe, the irrigation abstraction rate is higher than in western Europe, partly because of the poorer state of the conveyance systems and the high proportions of low-efficiency irrigation methods. In addition, crop yields are generally lower in this region, partly because of differences in farming equipment and training.
The water intensity of crop production is defined as the total volume of water input (irrigation and soil moisture; measured in cubic meters - m3) for one unit of gross value added generated from the production of all crop types, excluding relevant subsidies on crops (GVA adjusted for subsidies; measured in Purchasing Power Standard - PPS).
The lower the value of the indicator, the better the water intensity.
cubic meter (m3) per Purchasing Power Standard (PPS)
Since 2007, the European Commission has highlighted the challenges arising from water scarcity and droughts, adopting a relevant policy document (EC, 2007), followed by a number of policy reviews in subsequent years. In addition, water has become part of the Resource Efficiency Roadmap, which was adopted by the Commission in 2011. This includes a clear target of keeping water abstraction below 20 % of available renewable water resources (EC, 2011). Where crop production is a significant driver of water abstraction, this would require substantial improvements in decreasing water demand and increasing efficiency of irrigation water use. This strategic approach also constitutes one of the key targets of the Seventh Environment Action Programme, which aims to turn the EU into a resource-efficient, green and competitive low-carbon economy.
According to the “Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Water Resources” (EC, 2012) water efficiency targets should be developed by the river basin authorities in each river basin, which suffers or is projected to suffer from water stress. These targets should be substantiated at sector level (e.g. agriculture, households, industry, energy) and should contribute to the WFD objectives for good status of water bodies. Furthermore, the Commission has developed guidelines that support the integration of water reuse in water resources planning and management in the context of WFD implementation (EC, 2016).
The EU is committed to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The SDG 6.4 requires: “By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity”.
No specific target or threshold has been set for this indicator.
Water intensity of crop production is expressed as the ratio of the volume of water input to crops (irrigation plus soil moisture in cubic meters; m3) and GVA generated from the production of all crop types, adjusted for subsidies (in PPS).
Water input to crops (in m3) consists of:
Irrigation abstraction - surface water (FSW) and irrigation abstraction - groundwater (FGW) can be calculated using the Eurostat data set 'water abstraction for agriculture-irrigation (source: fresh surface and groundwater)'. Irrigation abstraction - non-freshwater (NFW) can be calculated using the Eurostat data sets 'water abstraction for agriculture-irrigation (source: desalinated water)','water abstraction for agriculture-irrigation (source: reused water)' and 'water abstraction for agriculture-irrigation (source: non-fresh water sources, not reported elsewhere)'. Water abstraction is expressed in terms of annual volume per country (million m³ per year). Gap-filling is performed using similar data sets from WISE-3(Water Quantity), OECD and AQUASTAT.
Soil moisture in the growing season can be calculated using the soil water content (in l/m3) that is simulated by the soil water balance model for European Water Accounting (swbEWA). The model has been validated using in situ soil moisture measurements at different locations across Europe (Kurnik et al., 2014). The model outputs have also been used for the calculation of the EEA indicator 'Soil moisture' (LSI 007). The model uses as inputs E-OBS data sets for climatic parameters (e.g. temperature, precipitation). The model outputs have been aggregated over the utilised agricultural areas, which are categorised either as 'arable land' or 'permanent crops'. Aggregation is carried out per country and for the growing season (indicatively: April-September), assuming an indicative soil depth of 2 m.
The utilised agricultural area categorised as 'arable land' or 'permanent crops' can be calculated using the available data set from Eurostat ('Crop statistics'). It is expressed in terms of annual area (ha per year).
Gross value added (GVA) of crop production (in PPS; values at constant prices with 2010 as reference year) is presented at basic prices, adjusted for crop subsidies, and expressed in terms of annual value per country (million PPS per year). This is an approximate measure of the net economic value generated by the producer exclusively from the production of all crop types, which best captures the revenues and the costs accrued by the producer. It can be calculated as follows:
Where:
Crop intermediate consumptionis the value of intermediate costs at basic prices relevant for crop production (in PPS; values at constant prices with 2010 as reference year) per country and year. It can be calculated using a
The economic values of the indicator are expressed at constant prices, because they make indicator interpretation more straightforward. Any increase in the national GVA at constant prices can be associated with an increase in the amount of the produced output. If the national GVA was expressed at current prices, then a change in the GVA could be also a result of changing prices.
The economic values are expressed in PPS, which is an artificial currency unit accounting for price differences across borders. One PPS can buy the same amount of goods and services in different Member States of the Eurozone using the EUR or in other European countries using other currencies, based on exchange rates between the PPS and those currencies, The exchange rates are called Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs). Expressing values in PPS instead of EUR improves the comparisons between different countries, because it balances the relative differences in purchasing power. Furthermore, the estimation of regional and European aggregates becomes more accurate, because the values being summed are equivalent in terms of purchasing power. Expressing the values in EUR for exploring the trends of the same country across time would be a fit option. However, values in PPS can also capture the country trends in a satisfactory way, as well as trends for regional and European aggregates.
If data are not available for water abstraction or soil moisture or gross value added or subsidies on crops, then the calculation of water intensity of crop production is not conducted for the same country and for the same year.
No gap-filling is conducted for indicator values. Gap-filling is conducted for underlying data in the following cases: Water abstraction for irrigation purposes from non-fresh water sources or reused water or desalinated water are assumed equal to 0, if not reported. The only exception is reused water for irrigation purposes in Cyprus (2015), where the available value for the previous year has been used (i.e. 2014).
Water abstraction for irrigation purposes from fresh surface water and groundwater sources: France (2014, 2015, 2016) estimated using total agricultural abstraction and historic ratio between irrigation abstraction and agricultural abstraction; Italy (2010) estimated using irrigation water use from FSS 2010 increased by +30% to account for average transport losses before use; Luxembourg (2016) assumed 0 because no irrigated areas were reported.
Soil moisture content for Malta was assumed same with Italy for all years, because of data gaps.
• In areas with significant shares of mixed farming, where crop and animal production are combined, the water intensity can be overestimated, as the indicator focuses on GVA generated from crop production only. In those cases where rainwater and irrigation are used for growing livestock feedstuff on arable land and land with permanent crops, the GVA generated from animal production (e.g. dairy, meat and other animal products) is not included in the calculation of the indicator.
• The methodology that was used to estimate the soil moisture per country is based on EEA modelling work for European water accounting and further aggregations to capture the suitable temporal and spatial scales. Modelling is a simplistic representation of reality, which introduces a number of systematic or random errors. The aggregation techniques are built on assumptions that may insert distortions of the national values of soil moisture. For example, the growing season is considered unique for all countries and crops, using a generic period between April and September. In addition, the depth of the root zone has been taken as equal to 2 m, which is a reasonable average for crops with shallow roots and crops with deeper roots.
• Separating crop GVA into two portions, one for 'irrigated growth' and one for 'rain-fed growth' would be ideal, but, despite efforts, it has been very difficult to implement this because crop production aggregates all crops and comprehensive national data on irrigated and non-irrigated yields are lacking.
• The calculation of the crop GVA required the attribution of a proportion of the agricultural intermediate costs (i.e. the total sector costs) to the crop output level. The method that was developed (i.e. by attributing a proportion of the costs based on the relative size of the crop output to either the agricultural industry or the crop plus animal output, as appropriate) is a fair simplification, but it is expected to increase the uncertainty of the indicator results.
• Total subsidies excluding on investments as a proportion of gross farm income is an estimation using micro-economic variables. Using the same proportion for apportioning crop subsidies and crop GVA, which are macro-economic variables, introduces uncertainties in the calculations.
• The PPS does not specifically capture the purchasing power of farmers, but customers in general. Therefore, the calculation of a special purchasing power index, covering farmers’ basket, would be preferable. However, such data are not readily available.
Caution is needed when comparing water intensities between different countries, with significant differences in the structure and characteristics of their agricultural production systems. Such comparisons may not be particularly instructive, whereas comparisons within the same geographic and climatic region may be more informative. Low water intensity of crop production values does not necessarily imply that the country is operating efficiently on all levels, but instead may be an indication that the baseline crop mix/production system is inherently of lower intensity.
Furthermore, annual changes in indicator values can be affected by changes in various agents, such as crop patterns, seed quality, soil fertility, cultivation methods and irrigation infrastructure, weather conditions, water limitations, crop failures (e.g. because of frost, heat or insect attacks), etc. Therefore, interpreting the annual changes in indicator values can be very complex. However, the long-term trends can be more informative on whether water intensity is effectively decreasing.
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/economic-water-productivity-of-irrigated-1/assessment or scan the QR code.
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