National Development and Reform Commission: 172 projects put major agricultural water-saving projects in the first place.

At a press conference held on October 14 to speed up the construction of major water conservancy projects, Gao Juncai, director of the Agricultural and Economic Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, pointed out that to strengthen the construction of major water conservancy projects, it is necessary to prevent the importance of water sources over canal systems, the importance of backbone over supporting facilities, and the importance of scale over benefits. Among the 172 projects, there are many key water source projects, which put major agricultural water-saving projects in the first place.

To strengthen the construction of terminal supporting facilities for major water conservancy projects and solve the problem of the last kilometer, Gao Juncai said that the path of a drop of water from its place of departure to its destination is long and short, some as long as thousands of kilometers. It is necessary to make an overall consideration of the first one kilometer of water and the last kilometer of irrigation channels, as well as N kilometers in the middle. It is necessary to prevent emphasis on water sources over canal systems, emphasis on backbone rather than supporting facilities, and emphasis on scale over benefits.

Among our 172 projects, there are many key water source projects, and these 172 projects put major agricultural water-saving projects in the first place. Water-saving projects include the channels mentioned just now, water saving of N kilometers in the middle, and so on, so as to improve the utilization efficiency of water resources. Water saving in the field, we are now vigorously promoting efficient water saving technology. The 12th five-year Plan will develop 50 million mu of high-efficiency and water-saving irrigation area, which has reached 70 million mu by the end of last year. It is estimated that by the end of the 12th five-year Plan, it may exceed 100 million mu, twice the planned target. In particular, drip irrigation under plastic film is implemented in some fields in the northwest and northeast. Xinjiang bingtuan drip irrigation under plastic film is more than 10 million mu, and Xinjiang drip irrigation is more than 20 million mu. Now Xinjiang drip irrigation under plastic film is based on Israel's drip irrigation technology, and its development is very fast and good. The Northeast is also developing very fast. Like Daqing, I have seen corn under drip irrigation under plastic film. It turns out that the yield per mu is less than 1000 jin. After drip irrigation under plastic film, the yield can reach nearly 2 times.

Among the 172 items, the National Development and Reform Commission arranged funds for supporting the canal system of large-scale irrigation areas, as well as water-saving irrigation pilot projects in the field. At the same time, there are also the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Land and Resources and other departments, a number of channels to allocate funds to the last kilometer and the middle N kilometers. Local governments have also stepped up their efforts in recent years, farmers have also actively invested, and there have also been a lot of good experience in the property rights reform of field water conservancy projects. For example, Anhui Province combines the property rights and use rights of field water conservancy projects with the maintenance responsibility of the project, quantifies the project to users, combines rights, responsibilities and interests, and the government issues certificates to users, including farmers, cooperatives or enterprises. Stimulate the enthusiasm of users through reform.

In terms of water price reform, the relevant departments of our National Development and Reform Commission are working with relevant departments, especially the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Finance, to formulate a pilot plan for comprehensive agricultural water price reform. All in all, the problem of the last kilometer is now a combination of various measures to step up efforts to solve the problem.