A World Bank-aided program aimed at upgrading irrigation systems in the central part of Shaanxi Province in northwest China has now been implemented.

The total investment for the program reached 200 million US dollars, half from World Bank loans.

The program covers the upgrading of low-yield farmland and basic water-control facilities on Central Shaanxi Plain, which now boasts more than 600,000 hectares of farmland and grain output accounting for one-third of the province's total. However, due to weak irrigation conditions, the farmland on the central Shaanxi plain has been suffering from drought.

When the program is completed in 2004, water control facilities on the plain will increase the supply by 387 million cubic meters of water annually, adding and improving more than 250,000 hectares of arable land and raising the annual grain output in the irrigated area by over 20 percent. (Xinhua)