Purpose The purpose of this paper is: to track the methods by which farmers access groundwater for irrigation in the North China Plain (NCP); to explore whether climate factors influence farmers’ decisions on the methods of groundwater access for irrigation; and to examine whether the amount of groundwater use for irrigation and crop yield systematically differ across groups of farmers using various methods of groundwater access, and how climate factors affect them. Design/methodology/approach Descriptive statistical analysis and econometric models are used on household survey data collected over several years and county-level climate data. Findings Over the past few decades, a significant share of farmers have switched the methods of groundwater access from collective tubewells to own tubewells or groundwater markets. Farmers who bought water from groundwater markets applied less water to wheat plots than those who had their own tubewells. However, wheat yield was not negatively affected. Both average climate conditions and long-term variations were found to be related to farmers’ choice of methods of groundwater access for irrigation. More frequent droughts and increasingly volatile temperatures both increased the likelihood of farmers gaining groundwater irrigation from markets. Originality/value The analysis results suggest farmers are using groundwater markets to help them adapt to climate change. Applying empirical analysis to identify the impact of the methods by which farmers access groundwater for irrigation on the amount of groundwater use and crop yield will help policy makers design reasonable adaptation policies for the NCP.

中文翻译：

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华北平原地下水获取方式对灌溉和作物产量的影响

目的本文的目的是：追踪华北平原农民获取地下水进行灌溉的方法；探讨气候因素是否影响农民对地下水灌溉方式的决策；并研究使用各种地下水获取方法的农民群体之间，用于灌溉的地下水量和作物产量是否系统地不同，以及气候因素如何影响他们。设计/方法/方法描述性统计分析和计量经济学模型用于收集了多年的家庭调查数据和县级气候数据。调查结果在过去的几十年中，很大一部分农民将地下水的获取方法从集体管井转移到了自己的管井或地下水市场。从地下水市场购买水的农民比拥有自己的管井的农民减少了对小麦田的灌溉。但是，小麦单产并未受到负面影响。人们发现平均气候条件和长期变化都与农民选择灌溉地下水的方法有关。更加频繁的干旱和不断变化的温度都增加了农民从市场上获得地下水灌溉的可能性。原创性/价值分析结果表明，农民正在利用地下水市场来帮助他们适应气候变化。应用经验分析来确定农民获取地下水进行灌溉的方法对地下水使用量和农作物产量的影响，将有助于政策制定者为NCP设计合理的适应政策。