Minimizing ineffective water consumption during fallow periods for sustainable agricultural water use in arid salinized regions, northwest China

Minimizing ineffective water consumption during fallow periods for sustainable agricultural water use in arid salinized regions, northwest China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Minimizing ineffective water consumption during fallow periods for sustainable agricultural water use in arid salinized regions, northwest China Mei Zhang, Jintong Liu, Tonggang Fu, Hui Gao, Feng Wang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6391861/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 14 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Irrigation during fallow periods is essential for crop production in arid salinized regions, as it helps reduce soil salinity and improve soil moisture. However, it exacerbates agricultural water scarcity, which fluctuates dynamically under the background decreasing water supplies and shifting in crop structure. Despite its importance, researches on the impact of irrigation in the non-growing season on water scarcity are limited. This study evaluated the compositions of water consumption in the non-growing season under different crop structures in Hetao Irrigation District, a typical arid salinized region, using blue water footprint method and based on leaching requirement theory. And the blue water scarcity index was applied to assess the impact of blue water consumption in non-growing season on agricultural water scarcity, under different water supply and consumption scenarios. Results showed that the average blue water footprint in non-growing season was 3245.48 m³/hm², accounting for 39% of the total blue water footprint in the entire production. While, the effective blue water footprint for salts leaching and incorporation in crop initial stage constituted only 32%, ineffective blue water footprint related evaporation accounted for 68% of blue water footprint in the non-growing season. Ineffective water consumption during fallow periods significantly increased blue water scarcity. Crop structure adjustments did not significantly reduce ineffective water consumption or alleviate water scarcity. However, reducing ineffective water consumption during fallow periods could effectively alleviate water scarcity, with potential water savings of up to 39%. The reduction of ineffective water consumption warrants further investigation, particularly to meet the needs of salts leaching and moisture conservation. This study provides theoretical support for the sustainable utilization and management of agricultural water in arid salinized regions. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Agri ecology Arid salinized regions Blue water footprint Leaching requirements Ineffective water consumption Sustainable water utilization Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 29 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 22 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 17 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 21 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 07 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 03 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 May, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 13 May, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 05 May, 2025 Editor invited by journal 24 Apr, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 16 Apr, 2025 First submitted to journal 16 Apr, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6391861","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":456271240,"identity":"5f631b2b-a400-4bf1-bc8c-ea432d46fe1f","order_by":0,"name":"Mei Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Center for Agricultural Resources Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mei","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":456271241,"identity":"e18e4a19-db01-43c0-b21e-dd5530ab220e","order_by":1,"name":"Jintong Liu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAx0lEQVRIie3OsQrCMBCA4QsH6ZLStZN9BV069lkseQdxKCWlUDddBYu+glPnSqAuPkAGVzeHTh3FoM4m3QTzB3LLfXAALtcPRgSKFpaA+tmSimhyGUOAEqHdmMPwUBTS3+detMLbEbIEgp0wHyb9RiIpaayg4xBeWyvSIiJoQluYhnMbUudI0RsUPKyJQGTIYkUqK5KKU91JDJEtVLrmLFQGMiul7O9ZzqPNuVH9kEyCrYmI9+SvXy+z7/u66DMT46bL5XL9b089kz3/RDhEZwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Center for Agricultural Resources Research","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jintong","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":456271242,"identity":"2991b0bc-5119-4951-bf5a-0f4b2bad56a2","order_by":2,"name":"Tonggang Fu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Center for Agricultural Resources Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tonggang","middleName":"","lastName":"Fu","suffix":""},{"id":456271244,"identity":"023afbba-b12d-406b-b50d-39765af7e5dc","order_by":3,"name":"Hui Gao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Center for Agricultural Resources Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hui","middleName":"","lastName":"Gao","suffix":""},{"id":456271245,"identity":"df1dc62e-4209-44ae-91fa-e1e8525a0c84","order_by":4,"name":"Feng Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Center for Agricultural Resources Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Feng","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-07 08:23:31","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6391861/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6391861/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":82875446,"identity":"50133090-4f91-47d7-aa84-488521c1f85a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-16 09:38:09","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1138442,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"RevisedManuscript2025.04.17.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6391861/v1_covered_690ca127-0be7-42b4-89dc-bf38cae19d3a.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Minimizing ineffective water consumption during fallow periods for sustainable agricultural water use in arid salinized regions, northwest China","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Arid salinized regions, Blue water footprint, Leaching requirements, Ineffective water consumption, Sustainable water utilization","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6391861/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6391861/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eIrrigation during fallow periods is essential for crop production in arid salinized regions, as it helps reduce soil salinity and improve soil moisture. However, it exacerbates agricultural water scarcity, which fluctuates dynamically under the background decreasing water supplies and shifting in crop structure. Despite its importance, researches on the impact of irrigation in the non-growing season on water scarcity are limited. This study evaluated the compositions of water consumption in the non-growing season under different crop structures in Hetao Irrigation District, a typical arid salinized region, using blue water footprint method and based on leaching requirement theory. And the blue water scarcity index was applied to assess the impact of blue water consumption in non-growing season on agricultural water scarcity, under different water supply and consumption scenarios. Results showed that the average blue water footprint in non-growing season was 3245.48 m\u0026sup3;/hm\u0026sup2;, accounting for 39% of the total blue water footprint in the entire production. While, the effective blue water footprint for salts leaching and incorporation in crop initial stage constituted only 32%, ineffective blue water footprint related evaporation accounted for 68% of blue water footprint in the non-growing season. Ineffective water consumption during fallow periods significantly increased blue water scarcity. Crop structure adjustments did not significantly reduce ineffective water consumption or alleviate water scarcity. However, reducing ineffective water consumption during fallow periods could effectively alleviate water scarcity, with potential water savings of up to 39%. The reduction of ineffective water consumption warrants further investigation, particularly to meet the needs of salts leaching and moisture conservation. This study provides theoretical support for the sustainable utilization and management of agricultural water in arid salinized regions.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Minimizing ineffective water consumption during fallow periods for sustainable agricultural water use in arid salinized regions, northwest China","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-05-16 09:06:02","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6391861/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-09-29T10:36:08+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-22T20:15:53+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"206100320784594408734045976752214074906","date":"2025-09-17T21:48:39+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-17T04:54:00+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"225264908728345646127243569298682608644","date":"2025-09-17T04:27:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"169864334006811329074431645434712150874","date":"2025-08-21T05:51:26+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-06-07T20:19:39+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"209382324355111763013548834297130916847","date":"2025-06-03T20:08:24+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"169864334006811329074431645434712150874","date":"2025-05-14T04:21:09+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-05-13T17:11:05+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-05-05T15:49:07+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-04-24T11:32:47+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-04-17T01:58:12+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2025-04-17T01:57:07+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"4b1b2859-493b-46b6-b80f-3f7bf15f093c","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 16th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"in-revision","subjectAreas":[{"id":48498095,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact"},{"id":48498096,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Agri ecology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-11T08:57:32+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-05-16 09:06:02","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6391861","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6391861","identity":"rs-6391861","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}