China's farmland water conservancy development is constrained by three major bottleneck problems

Agriculture is the foundation of a nation, and water is the lifeblood of agriculture. As a major agricultural country, China has thirteen major grain-producing areas; however, water conservancy has long been a major bottleneck preventing China from becoming a world agricultural power. A reporter's investigation has found that China's farmland water conservancy construction is currently facing three major “bottleneck” problems: a large backlog in water conservancy, difficulty in mobilizing the public, and a lack of maintenance mechanisms.

Three major “bottleneck” problems constrain China's farmland water conservancy development

Large backlog in water conservancy: heavy tasks in both new construction and repair of old facilities

In recent years, financial investment in water conservancy construction at all levels has continued to increase, which is a blessing for the people at the grassroots level. However, over the past decades, the water conservancy “backlog” has been too great; even if construction funds were multiplied several times over, it would still be difficult to meet the people's needs in the short term.

China suffers from frequent floods and droughts, causing relatively severe damage to crops and relatively large losses for farmers. This phenomenon reflects the weakening of the “storing floodwater and replenishing low-flow periods” regulation function of China's farmland water conservancy facilities, the serious lag in farmland water conservancy construction, and the lack of maintenance and management.

As the farming proverb goes, “Harvest or no harvest depends on water.” In July of this year, Henan Province, which should have been in its flood season, experienced its lowest precipitation in fifty-three years. In Pingdingshan City, the area of Henan hardest hit by drought, some rural areas went without water for as long as three months. “On the fifteenth of the seventh month, drought or flood is determined; on the fifteenth of the eighth month, the harvest is determined.” This farming proverb, in which farmers place particular trust, reflects an important stage of China's grain production. However, since the start of summer, severe drought has occurred in some parts of the country, with more than 72 million mu of farmland affected by drought across twelve provinces and regions, including Shandong, Henan and Inner Mongolia.

As far as the current state of farmland water conservancy facilities is concerned, the ditches, ponds and dams, well irrigation and sluice stations scattered across the fields are known as the “last kilometer” of water conservancy construction. Yet it is precisely this “last kilometer” that is either blocked, leaking, or connected but not flowing freely, becoming a major problem in agricultural production. Some large grain growers complain that the central government encourages land transfer and supports large grain growers, but farmland water conservancy supporting facilities cannot keep up, so large growers dare not expand their scale, and water conservancy construction has become a “bottleneck” problem.

Taking Hunan as an example, data from the Hunan Provincial Department of Water Resources show that at present, of the province's 1.66 million ponds and dams, the actual water storage capacity is only 60% of the original; of the 142,000 km of small channels, only 15% have been lined; and of the more than 50,000 pumping stations, less than 3% have been renovated. The problem of insufficient maintenance of old facilities has become urgent.

Data from the Ministry of Water Resources show that most of China's existing irrigation and drainage facilities were built between the 1950s and 1970s, and commonly suffer from problems such as low standards, incomplete supporting facilities, aging and disrepair, and declining benefits. About 40% of large irrigation districts, 50%-60% of medium and small irrigation districts, and 50% of small farmland water conservancy engineering facilities nationwide lack supporting facilities, and the equipment availability rate of large irrigation and drainage pumping stations is less than 60%.

On the one hand, farmland water conservancy has been in disrepair for more than 30 years; on the other hand, water conservancy facilities are lacking, and “rain-fed fields” are widespread, making it difficult to withstand natural disasters.

Data from the Ministry of Water Resources show that at present, China's effective irrigation area for farmland is 937 million mu, accounting for only 51.5% of the cultivated land area, and nearly half of the cultivated land consists of “rain-fed fields” lacking basic irrigation conditions.

Difficulty in mobilizing the public: construction and management forces are single and weak

The task of building and maintaining water conservancy facilities is arduous, with three characteristics: a large number, complex conditions and wide coverage. In contrast to the public's active calls to speed up water conservancy construction and the continuous increase in water conservancy investment by financial authorities at all levels, the public's own enthusiasm for participating in water conservancy construction is insufficient. Faced with water conservancy construction projects that are numerous and wide-ranging, if the broad masses cannot be mobilized to participate and reliance is placed solely on financial investment, there will be a dilemma of limited construction forces, slower progress and too heavy a task.

Taking Liaocheng, Shandong as an example, Wen Qingjun, village party secretary of Wenzhuangxi Village, Daiwan Town, Linqing City, said that in the past, farming was farmers' “main occupation”; as soon as village officials called, villagers would provide voluntary labor, and repairing farmland ditches could easily be done. Now many villagers go out to work; if you call them back to repair water conservancy facilities, not to mention providing voluntary labor, they may not come back to work even if you pay them. Villagers provide neither labor nor money, and some villages have very tight collective funds, so the village's small water conservancy facilities have fallen into disuse.

Hunan has encountered the same predicament on related issues. Li Xubiao, village party secretary of Tianzidi Village, Lingling District, said that each year he can only organize party members and village officials to clear silt from channels. “Ordinary villagers are unwilling to participate. Although their fields also benefit, if I organize them by force, they will report me for arbitrary apportionment.”

Analyzing the reasons: first, there is a lack of an institutional basis for mobilizing labor. Rural problems must be solved not only by relying on the government, but also by relying on farmers themselves. Before the rural tax and fee reform, rural voluntary labor and accumulated labor (referred to as the “two labors”) played a major role in water conservancy construction and maintenance. When winter slack season came, organized by grassroots governments, the masses voluntarily repaired water conservancy facilities, sustaining the normal operation of grassroots water conservancy. But after the rural tax and fee reform, a mechanism for farmers' participation in farmland water conservancy construction was never established. It became difficult for grassroots officials to organize farmers to provide labor. Rural water conservancy facilities not only lacked farmers' manpower support for new construction, but even maintenance became a problem.

Second, there is a lack of economic incentive. Many farmers report that the returns from grain cultivation are not high, and they are unwilling to increase labor input. Rather than repairing water conservancy facilities during the winter slack season, it is better to go out to work. Some farmers have calculated that the annual net income from one mu of double-cropping rice is at most six or seven hundred yuan, which can be earned back by going out to work for one week. Therefore, if grassroots officials want to “assign work,” they must pay appropriate remuneration, otherwise farmers will not provide labor. At current rates, wages are at least 100 yuan per day. Limited government investment is used to buy materials and rent machinery, and most villages lack collective economic income and cannot afford wages, so grassroots water conservancy construction and maintenance can only fall into the dilemma of “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”

Third, there is a lack of labor support. The vast majority of young and middle-aged labor in rural areas goes out to work. The government provides start-up funds and technical equipment, but the main body of construction still has to rely on the masses. Nowadays, rural areas are mostly left-behind elderly people and children, who find it difficult to shoulder construction tasks.

Lack of maintenance mechanisms: accelerated aging of projects and “discounted” benefits

Compared with the upsurge in water conservancy construction in various places, the later maintenance and management of water conservancy facilities is mostly “out in the cold.” Water conservancy projects lack complete maintenance and management mechanisms, leading to large numbers of facilities aging, falling into disrepair and declining in benefit. In particular, “five small” water conservancy projects have seen the phenomenon of “used by someone, built by no one, managed by no one.”

The reasons mainly lie in the fact that the reform of the water management system has not been fully completed, specifically as follows:

First, small farmland water conservancy facilities were previously mainly self-built and self-managed by farmers, but after the abolition of the “two labors,” an effective mechanism for farmers' participation was not established, and the main body of construction and management is seriously absent.

Second, there is a lack of stable guarantee for management and maintenance funds. Taking Hunan Province as an example, before the abolition of the “two labors,” Hunan Province invested an annual average of 350 million workdays in the construction and management of small farmland water conservancy, which, calculated at current wage rates, is equivalent to an annual investment of 35 billion yuan. After the abolition of rural taxes and fees, agricultural water fees have been difficult to collect. It is understood that in 2012, large irrigation districts in Hunan were due to collect 72.94 million yuan in water fees but actually collected 17.49 million yuan, a collection rate of only 24%; the collection of water fees in medium irrigation districts was even worse.

Third, from the central government to local governments, there is also to varying degrees a concept of “valuing construction over management.” The shortfall in daily maintenance funds and personnel funds for irrigation district projects is difficult to effectively put in place.

Fourth, after the establishment of farmers' water user associations, they lack operating funds and most exist in name only. Daily management of the “last kilometer” of irrigation districts is lacking, causing projects to age at an accelerated rate.

Several water conservancy officials suggest that it should be made clear that the provincial, municipal and county governments at the three levels should specially allocate funds for the construction and management of “small farmland water conservancy” in their annual fiscal budgets; continue to improve the construction of township water conservancy stations and provide appropriate annual operating fund support; and give appropriate support to farmers' water user associations that have passed joint acceptance by municipal and county water conservancy departments and financial departments.