Developing models on water-saving agriculture through rainwater harvesting for supplemental irrigation in northern China semi-arid region

Abstract

Abstract: Zhungeer of Inner Mongolia,an arsenic-bearing sandstone area of northern Loess Plateau,is one of the sites with most serious soil and water losses in China,while rainwater harvesting (RWH) for supplemental irrigation is the only approach to abate droughts in this region.In the ongoing water saving agriculture project,a national 863 project of China,Zhungeer was chosen as a demonstration zone of water-saving dryland agriculture through rainwater harvesting for supplemental irrigation in northern China semi-arid region.The traditional RWH and utilization lacks of holistic consideration,resulting in the blindness in engineering planning and production arrangement.Based on the analysis of the ecological,economic and societal conditions in the demonstration zone,this paper summarized the technological system of dryland cropping production centered on RWH for supplemental irrigation,and developed three models of RWH and highly effective crop-planting,RWH and ecological pasturing,and domestic RWH and economy.The water demand standards for integrative rainwater utilization in the demonstration zone were determined,and the ecological and socio-economic assessment on the three years implement effects of the models was conducted.

Key words: Northern China semi-arid region, Rainwater harvesting for supplemental irrigation, Water-saving agriculture, Developing model

CLC Number:

S273

SUN Huimin, CHENG Manjin, ZHENG Dawei, ZHANG Jianxin . Developing models on water-saving agriculture through rainwater harvesting for supplemental irrigation in northern China semi-arid region[J]. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 2005, 16(6): 1072-1076.

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