Water saving irrigation in China

AbstractPer capita freshwater availability in China is among the lowest in the world and increasingly in short supply. Less water will be available for irrigation, which consumes the largest amount of fresh water because of the rapidly increased demands for fresh water for industrial and domestic use. To feed the increasing population under the conditions of keeping sound ecosystems and environment, there is an urgent need for China to produce more food with less water than for many other countries in the world. In recent decades China has pioneered some water saving policies and water saving irrigation (WSI) techniques, aimed at increasing water and land productivity. Policies for WSI from high level support conducive institutional development, leading to maximization of the effects of agricultural infrastructure, and of successful research on, and dissemination of, new technologies. There are many success stories about “real” water savings in China. This paper introduces the development of the WSI techniques and the impacts of WSI on society, the economy and the environment, and presents the experiences and lessons on WSI from China. Based on the analysis on the supply and demand of fresh water, the objectives and tasks for water saving from irrigated agriculture in China are discussed, and the strategies for sustainable water use and agricultural development and the main measures leading to increasing water and land productivity are mentioned. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.