The high-resolution evaluation water footprint and virtual water trade of cotton in Türkiye


Yerli C.

WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, cilt.93, sa.2, ss.1-15, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 93 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Dergi Adı: WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Scopus, Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), BIOSIS, Chimica, Compendex, EMBASE, Geobase, MEDLINE, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-15
  • Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The virtual water (VW), which defines the water embedded in the commodities in the water flow throughout the entire process, and the expanded water footprint (WF) that includes it, has come to the forefront by defining the type-place-time-volume of water. This study analyzed the WF with water types and VW trade of cotton with high water requirements, which has a continuity in the export-import cycle, for Türkiye, a leading cotton producer, by using high-resolution, long-time-segmented data input and taking into account the remaining winter precipitation in country and provinces. The WF of cotton on a provincial basis has changed significantly depending on production conditions, soil-climate factors; on average, blue, green, and grey WFs constituted 72.6% (2407.0 m3 ton-1), 14.4% (476.6 m3 ton-1), and 13.0% (430.4 m3 ton-1) of the total WF (3314.0 m3 ton-1), respectively. The total WF of cotton exports in Türkiye regarding VW transfer is 839 Gm3 year-1, consisting of blue, green and grey VW contents of 609, 121 and 109 Gm3 year-1, respectively, and, the imports are higher than exports have resulted in a cotton import WF of 2625 Gm3 year-1, which has resulted in a positive water balance of 1787 Gm3 year-1 for cotton in Türkiye.