Optimizing Wheat Planting Pattern to Balance Wheat Production and Its Water Consumption

【Objective】 Wheat is the most important crop in North China. However, the scarcity of freshwater resources in this region cannot sustain its production. Optimizing wheat planting area to balance wheat production and its water requirement is hence essential to conserving irrigation water and alleviating water shortage pressure. 【Method】 Evapotranspiration and wheat yield were used as indicators to establish the objective of the wheat planting areas at county scale in the region. Optimization for wheat production was established from the trade-off between wheat production and its water consumption. 【Result】 From 2001 to 2009, evapotranspiration in the wheat season exhibited an increasing trend, followed by a significant decrease from 2010 to 2018 (p