Water Consumption Assessment of Mangosteen: A Bottom-Up Approach

Abstract

A water consumption assessment using a bottom-up approach is applied in this research; the smallest level of water consumption assessment shows the water consumption behavior at the farm level of 55 mangosteen farms in the Khlung District of Chanthaburi Province, Thailand, in the production year 2019. The findings revealed that the average water footprint (WF) was 774.60 m3/ton, which was divided into a green water footprint of 519.04 m3/ton and the blue water footprint of 255.56 m3/ton. Stage 5 was the mangosteen’s growth stage that had the highest WF: this stage was the fruit’s maturation period, whose WF was equivalent to 41.16% of the yearly water consumption. The WF of mangosteen data for the production year 2019 is a crucial baseline that will enable farmers to understand the actual water consumption in mangosteen production at the farm level. It will be feasible to determine the trend of changing water use, particularly if the mangosteen WF data is regularly gathered each year and it has led to appropriate water consumption planning per the needs of the mangosteen. Furthermore, this research also raised farmers’ awareness concerning the water consumption of mangosteen production.