Ministry of Water Resources: Nearly half of China's cultivated land is still "rain-fed land"

The reporter learned from the National Rural Water Conservancy Work Conference held on the 27th in Bengbu, Anhui, that at present, the national effective irrigation area of farmland is 937 million mu, accounting for only 51.5% of the cultivated land area, and nearly half of the cultivated land is “rain-fed land”, lacking basic irrigation conditions.

Li Guoying, Vice Minister of Water Resources, said that 2014 is the opening year for implementing the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee and deepening water conservancy reform, and is also a crucial year for completing the rural water conservancy reform and development tasks of the “12th Five-Year Plan”. Doing a good job in the year's rural water conservancy reform and development tasks is arduous and of great significance.

Over the past year or more, national rural water conservancy work has developed rapidly, but Li Guoying also pointed out: “The foundation supporting food security is still not solid.”

⟦NL> He introduced that in more than 10% of the country's low-lying and easily waterlogged areas, the drainage standard is less than a 3-year return period, and some waterlogged areas do not meet the treatment standards. The area of farmland that yields stable harvests despite drought or excessive rain accounts for only about 30% of the cultivated land area.

Most of the existing irrigation and drainage facilities were built from the 1950s to the 1970s, and generally suffer from problems such as low standards, incomplete supporting facilities, aging and disrepair, and declining benefits. About 40% of the country's large irrigation districts, 50-60% of medium and small irrigation districts, and 50% of small farmland water conservancy engineering facilities lack supporting facilities, and the equipment intact rate of large irrigation and drainage pumping stations is less than 60%.

“Weak irrigation and drainage facilities are still the biggest wound affecting the stable development of agriculture and national food security,” Li Guoying said.

In addition, he also pointed out that the institutional system for rural water conservancy development is not sound, the reform of systems and mechanisms lags behind the development of the situation, and the three-tier water conservancy service system is still imperfect; all of these are prominent problems existing in current rural water conservancy work.