Water-saving irrigation drives the development of cash crop cultivation in Henan
Henan Province is the most populous province in China, the largest agricultural province, and the largest grain-producing province, as well as an important economic province and a rapidly developing emerging industrial province, occupying a pivotal position nationwide. On June 2-3, the "Water-Saving China Tour" press corps conducted interviews on various aspects of Henan's industrial structure adjustment and water conservation.
Agriculture is the largest water user in Henan Province. In 2008, total grain output reached 107.3 billion jin, exceeding 100 billion jin for three consecutive years, hitting a historic high for five consecutive years, and ranking first nationwide for nine consecutive years.
Agricultural development is accompanied by continuously increasing water consumption, so in agriculture, Henan has enormous water-saving potential.
In recent years, Henan Province has firmly seized opportunities such as national Huang-Huai-Hai Plain development, renewal and supporting facilities construction and water-saving renovation of large irrigation districts, and water-saving irrigation demonstration project construction, continuously increasing funding, scientific and technological investment and support for agricultural water conservation, actively promoting technologies such as canal seepage lining, low-pressure pipeline water conveyance, sprinkler irrigation, drip irrigation, and infiltration irrigation, and vigorously developing high-efficiency water-saving agriculture, achieving good results. By the end of 2008, the province had developed a water-saving irrigation engineering area of 17.645 million mu, accounting for 24% of the effective irrigation area, with annual water savings of approximately 1.409 billion cubic meters. Among these, low-pressure pipeline water conveyance covered 8.78 million mu, canal seepage prevention 7.06 million mu, sprinkler irrigation 1.67 million mu, micro-irrigation 120,000 mu, and others 3.49 million mu. The proportion of agricultural water consumption in the province's total water consumption dropped from 72.2% in 1998 to 52% in 2008, and water consumption per ton of grain dropped from 420 cubic meters in 1980 to 141 cubic meters in 2008.
Developing water-saving irrigation not only alleviated water resource shortages but also promoted the adjustment of Henan's agricultural planting structure. The cultivation scale of some high-water-consumption cash crops such as flowers and vegetables has been greatly developed due to the significant reduction in water consumption.
Through developing water-saving agriculture, Henan has promoted the transformation from traditional agriculture to intensive agriculture, and the high-efficiency agricultural planting structure of three or four harvests per year has been well promoted. Xuchang City, through the organic combination of developing water-saving irrigation and agricultural structure adjustment, has formed a number of high-quality, high-efficiency agricultural production bases with distinctive characteristics. First, along both sides of National Highway 311 in Yanling County, Xuchang County, and Weidu District, a flower base of more than 400,000 mu has been formed. Second, in Changge City and Weidu District, a number of vegetable and fruit production bases have been formed. Third, in Yuzhou City, a number of dried and miscellaneous fruit production bases and Chinese medicinal herb production bases have been formed. Fourth, in Xiangcheng and other counties (cities), a number of tobacco leaf and vegetable production bases have been formed. After the implementation of the water-saving renovation project in the Yindan Irrigation District of Nanyang City, the irrigation cycle was reduced from 17 days to 12 days, saving 10 million cubic meters of water annually. Various townships within the irrigation district fully utilized the advantages of Yindan water resources, transitioning from single agricultural planting to vigorously developing vegetables, forest fruits, Chinese medicinal herbs, and aquaculture. The grain-to-cash crop ratio within the irrigation district increased from 6:4 to 5:5.
Water conservancy, as the primary productive force for promoting agricultural yield increases and efficiency improvements, has played an enormous role. Many practical technologies that were difficult to promote and popularize over the long term have been accepted and applied by the broad masses. Technology-driven agriculture, efficiency-driven agriculture, and intensive agriculture have all achieved substantial development, and the growth mode of agriculture has undergone fundamental changes.