Agricultural Total Water Consumption Coefficient and Its Spatial Correlation Network in Yangtze River Economic Belt

Abstract

Agriculture contributes extensively to the economic development of countries; however, it is one of the main water-consuming industries. Revealing the characteristics and network structure of agricultural water use efficiency (AWUE) is conducive to green and coordinated development of agriculture. Considering that analyzing the variation of AWUE is helpful to calculating the AWUE, this study aims to calculate the total water consumption coefficient of the agricultural sector in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YEB) by using the China interregional input-output tables in 2012 and 2017. The gravity model was modified to deduce the spatial correlation network of agricultural total water consumption coefficient (ATWCC), and the social network analysis method was used to analyze the network structural characteristics. The results show that: (1) compared to 2012, the AWUE of YEB in 2017 improved, with a decrease of ATWCC from 532.5 to 387.5 m3/10,000-yuan, account for 27.2%; (2) The network relevance of ATWCC of YEB’s 11 provinces (cities) enhanced, the rank relationship within the network and the network structure was relatively stable; (3) The spatial correlation network formed several network centers, Zhejiang and Jiangsu in the eastern coastal area were the main destinations of the spatial spillover of the spatial correlation network.