Xinjiang Raises Subsidy Standard for Efficient Water-Saving Agriculture

URUMQI, March 12 (Xinhuanet) -- (Reporters Guan Qiaoqiao and Su Chuanyi) In 2010, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will promote efficient water-saving agriculture over a larger area, and the subsidy standard for newly built efficient water-saving irrigation agriculture will be raised from 100 yuan/mu in 2009 to 200 yuan/mu.
Reporters learned from the Water and Pasture Water Conservancy Division of the autonomous region's Water Resources Department that starting in 2010, the autonomous region's finance department will subsidize newly built efficient water-saving irrigation agriculture at a standard of 200 yuan per mu, striving to add more than 3 million mu of efficient water-saving irrigation area each year. At present, the first batch of subsidy funds, 180 million yuan, has already been allocated in place.

In Xinjiang, located in China's western arid zone, the relative shortage of water resources is one of the important factors constraining local economic and social development. At present, agricultural irrigation water in Xinjiang accounts for 95 percent of total water supply, while industrial and domestic water use accounts for only 5 percent. Because rural water conservancy facilities have aged and the level of agricultural water use management is relatively low, in the vast farming areas, the low water resource utilization rate and serious waste are prominent phenomena.

In recent years, Xinjiang has taken multiple measures to develop efficient water-saving agricultural irrigation. In 2009, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region subsidized a total of 180 million yuan in efficient water-saving agricultural funds and added 3.8 million mu of field efficient water-saving construction area. At this point, Xinjiang (excluding the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps) has cumulatively built 10 million mu of field efficient water-saving area, becoming the province or region with the largest efficient water-saving agricultural area in the country.