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

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 analysed 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 the 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% (2,407.0 m³ ton^-1), 14.4% (476.6 m³ ton^-1), and 13.0% (430.4 m³ ton^-1) of the total WF (3,314.0 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 2,625 Gm³ year^-1, which has resulted in a positive water balance of 1,787 Gm³ year^-1 for cotton in Türkiye.