Multi-pollutant assessment of water quality and food production for agricultural green development in China: an integrated, multi-scale modelling approach

A PhD research by Yanan Li

Research introduction

Food production in China has increased. This holds especially for the North China Plain. Agricultural activities are important sources of environmental pollution including rivers.

Research challenges

Agricultural Green Development is an opportunity to reduce water pollution and increase the sustainability of agricultural activities. The main research objective is to assess future Agricultural Green Development in China, in terms of sustainable food production and multiple pollutants in water systems at different scales.

The research expects to yield the following results:

• New version of the MARINA-Global model to assess inputs of multiple pollutants to surface waters by source and sub-basin;
• The multi-pollutant assessment of surface water quality in the world, China and North China Plain;
• Agricultural Green Development (AGD) options to reduce future water pollution;
• Recommendations for AGD development at different scales to support sustainable food production and water security in the future.