Gansu to build water-saving irrigation area

According to the Gansu provincial water resources department, Gansu will launch a water-saving irrigation demonstration area project this year, Gansu Daily reported on June 9.

The project will cover about 484,800 hectares, with an investment of 9.17 billion yuan ($1.47 billion).

The project spreads over 18 counties in five cities in Gansu—Jiuquan, Jiayuguan, Zhangye, Jinchang, and Wuwei—13 counties in Lanzhou and Baiyin cities along the Yellow River; and 15 local farms.

The construction of the project will take seven years, the first phase from 2013 to 2016, covering a water-saving irrigation area of 333,300 hectares, and the second phase from 2017 to 2018, covering an area of 151,400 hectares.

By 2018, the total water-saving irrigation area in Hexi Corridor will reach 666,700 hectares, plus the planned project areas of 57,500 hectares in Dunhuang, and the drainage basin of Heihe River and Shiyang River.

The concentrated population and cultivated land in Hexi Corridor will speed up the agricultural production and rural economic development. However, the shortage of water resources and fragile ecological environment hinders further social development.

Fortunately, the water-saving irrigation area will account for more than 70 percent of the total irrigation area, saving 1.06 billion cubic meters water and cutting 212 million cu m of groundwater mining.

Meanwhile, the newly increased annual grain yield will reach 282 million kilograms and the production value of commercial crops will reach 723 million yuan.

Edited by Nelly Min and Le Qin