Xinjiang Develops Water-efficient AgricultureNorthwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has made big progress in developing water-efficient agriculture since the beginning of the 1990s.Statistics from the regional agricultural bureau show that up to now, water-saving irrigation has been used on 1.267 million hectares of farmland, and sprinkling and drop irrigation has been used on farmland totaling 6,666.67 hectares in area. As a result, the amount of water used for irrigating one hectare of farmland has been reduced from the former 15,000 cubic meters to the current 1,050 cubic meters annually. The 5 billion cubic meters of water saved annually is used to plant trees to improve local ecology. The water-saving agriculture is mainly based in the Tarim River valley, where 8 million people live. The output of cotton, grain and fruit produced in the valley accounts for 47 percent, 41 percent and 47 percent respectively of Xinjiang's total. Xinjiang accounts for one-sixth of China's total land area. However, the region's more than 17 million people are living in the oasises, which only make up 4 percent of its total land area. Furthermore, more than 80 percent of the Tarim River valley has turned into desert compared with 66 percent in 1959. Diverting water from the Tarim River has been prohibited for the first time this year, according to local sources. The Agreement on Restricting Water Utilization from the Tarim River stipulates that water used to irrigate local farmland should be cut by 450 cubic meters per hectare, which means that 300 million cubic meters of water will be saved annually. The saved water will be used to improve the ecological environment along the lower reaches of the river. Israel, Australia, Canada, Japan, and the World Bank have all participated in the water-saving projects in the region. A project funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation will be launched at the end of the year. The more than 500 million yuan project will develop 1,333,33 hectares of water-saving farmland, build 300 kilometer-long anti-seepage ditches, 460 power-operated wells and plant 24,000 hectares of trees. The State Development Planning Commission and the Ministry of Water Resources has launched 11 water-saving projects in Xinjiang, which help local farmers use drop irrigation on 593.33 hectares of farmland and sprinkling irrigation on 2,266.67 hectares. |
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