Water-saving Irrigation Network helps Agricultural High efficiency production in Arid areas of Northwest China

In the Ningxia Hui Autonomous region in northwest China, it is summer, and vegetables, wolfberry and other crops planted this year are growing vigorously and are no longer "thirsty".

This is due to the fact that efficient water-saving irrigation, a technology that China has tried to promote in recent years, has "netted" some arid and water-scarce land in the northwest, changing the way local farmers use water and improving production efficiency.

"1300 mu of vegetable land is covered by drip irrigation pipes. Drip irrigation can harvest 10500 kilograms of tomatoes per mu, using only 70 cubic meters of water, which drips directly to the roots of vegetables, and fertilizer can be dissolved in water to 'replenish' vegetables. " Ma Guangjie, a villager of Lan Xing Village, Ligang Town, Helan County, Yinchuan City, Ningxia, said.

The reporter saw in the vegetable field that under the green leaves are black water pipe belts, and each pipe belt is installed with drip irrigation "switch" according to the position of the root of the crop. As soon as the sluice is opened, the pipe begins to drip water frequently, and precise irrigation avoids evaporation.

Ma Guangjie told reporters that in 2012 he transferred land and began to grow tomatoes, eggplant and chili peppers. At the beginning of flood irrigation, irrigation is often not timely, affecting the yield. One mu of land harvests only 8000 kilograms of tomatoes, but uses 200 cubic meters of water.

Last year, the county water bureau began to promote drip irrigation technology, saving water while ensuring timely irrigation. Ma Guangjie said that the summer drought, vegetables need water most, with drip irrigation, no longer worry about water shortage, tomatoes grow big, good color.

"growing tomatoes without drip irrigation will make a lot less money." Ma Guangjie said that the field is irrigated to grow tomatoes, and tomatoes are on the market at a low price around August, 50 or 60 cents per jin. After drip irrigation, persimmons can grow until September, when demand exceeds supply and can be sold for more than 2 yuan per jin.

According to the Helan County Water Bureau, now many vegetable farmers in Helan County have begun to take the initiative to assemble drip irrigation equipment. Drip irrigation and other technologies have been widely promoted in the county since last year, and now it has covered 60,000 mu of land.

High-efficiency water-saving irrigation technology has not only been popularized year by year in the areas where irrigation is relatively easy in the north of Ningxia, but also has become a guarantee to increase crop production and farmers' income in the central and southern mountainous areas where there is perennial drought and water shortage.

In the arid zone of central Ningxia, which depends on heaven for a living, local farmers have begun to plant cash crops with the help of this technology, gradually getting rid of poverty. Yang Zhengwu, deputy director of the Water Bureau of Tongxin County, Wuzhong City, said: "in the past, a large area of dry land could only rely on rain to grow corn, but now even Chinese wolfberry, which consumes the most water, can be planted. A mu of Chinese wolfberry needs 600 cubic meters of water for normal irrigation, but now drip irrigation needs only 120 cubic meters per mu. After the farmers' land is transferred to companies or large growers, they work locally, weeding, pruning, and harvesting Chinese wolfberry, with a daily wage of 80 yuan and a guaranteed annual income. "

In Ningxia and even some parts of northwest China, due to perennial drought and little rain, coupled with the backward water use mode of flood irrigation, the local agricultural production efficiency is low and it is difficult to increase farmers' income.

For this reason, in recent years, Ningxia has made great efforts to develop high-efficiency water-saving irrigation technology. up to now, the area of high-efficiency water-saving irrigation has reached 1.65 million mu, the economic crops in the project area implementing high-efficiency water-saving irrigation have increased by more than 30% per mu, and the average income per mu has increased by more than 1000 yuan.

The area of high-efficiency and water-saving irrigation in Xinjiang, Shaanxi and other provinces is also increasing year by year. By the end of last year, the area of agricultural high-efficiency and water-saving irrigation in Xinjiang exceeded 35 million mu, the amount of irrigation water per mu of agricultural water was reduced by more than 100 cubic meters, and the average income of facility agriculture increased by 1500 yuan per mu. At the same time, the area of low-pressure pipe irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, micro-irrigation and other water-saving technologies in Shaanxi Province has also reached 4.51 million mu.

It is understood that in the future, some western provinces and regions will continue to popularize efficient water-saving irrigation techniques, explore the use of facilities and technologies to irrigate more land with limited water, further improve the utilization rate of water resources, and enable efficient agricultural production in arid areas.