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| DOI：10.13522/j.cnki.ggps.2017.0703 |
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| Changes in Irrigated Areas and the Types of Cropland in China Since 2000 |
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PEI Yuansheng, LI Xudong, YANG Mingzhi
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State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
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| Abstract: |
| 【Objectives】 This paper is to analyze the changes in irrigated areas and types of cropland in different regions across the country in 15 years from 2000 to 2014. 【Method】 We statistically analyzed the data available in this period and predicted their potential changes based on the national strategies on agricultural production and available water resources in different regions. 【Result】 ①Both irrigated areas and total cropland areas have seen an increase from 2000 to 2014, while the ratio of the former to the latter dropped from 92.7% to 91.4% and the ratio of the area of cropland for grain production to total cropland area decreased from 69.4% to 68.1%. ②The irrigated cropland in the northeast and the northwest increased more than that in other regions, and the cropland for grain production increased more rapidly in the northeast and central China. The ratio of irrigated cropland to the total irrigated areas, as well as the ratio of the areas for grain crops to the areas for all crops is predicted to continue to decrease. This is due to the development of so called “mega agriculture” which is to balance the production of grain crops, cash crops and fodder crops, as well as the production of farming, forest, animal husbandry and fishery. Also, the predicted results indicated that the irrigated areas for rice and wheat will increase to safeguard their production, and the areas for oil and fodder crops will increase in the northeast and the southwest. In contrast, the irrigated cropland in the northwest and the north will remain almost the same. In northwest China, the lands for potatoes, cereals and fodder crops will increase due to the limitation of water resources. Some croplands in North China would be converted from wheat to oil and fodder crops due to limitation of water resources. 【Conclusion】 The overall croplands and irrigated will continue to change in China due to national strategies on agriculture and availability of water resources in the next decades or so. |
| Key words: irrigated area; crop patterns; changes; trends |
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