Strategies for managing water scarcity in rice production areas in China
2003
Li, Y.H. | Ni, W.J. | Chen, C.D.
Demand for freshwater for industrialization and domestic urban needs is growing rapidly throughout Asia. Less water will be available for agriculture and for rice, the crop that consumes the largest amount of freshwater. With one of the most intensive rice irrigation systems and the most rice production in the world, the need for more rice with less water is more urgent in China than in many other countries. Increasing attention has been paid to improving irrigation water management of paddy fields, because of both their importance for food production and their huge water use. First, China has made significant efforts in developing and applying on-farm water-saving irrigation (WSI) practices in rice-based systems aiming at increasing field-level water and land productivity. The wide-spread adoption of WSI techniques provides an opportunity for efficient water use on a large scale because it impels every farmer to use water carefully, capture the return flow, harvest rainfall water, and control percolation losses. Second, China's high-level policymakers have implemented water-saving policies and promoted research on and dissemination of new technologies. Sound water-pricing mechanisms have brought about reduced demand, an increased supply, facilitation of reallocation among water-use sectors, and increased managerial efficiency. Third, the modernization and rehabilitation of irrigation schemes result in improvements in water-use efficiency and irrigation reliability. China also finds that it is difficult to produce more rice with less water, and many scientific issues remain to be studied. Reducing institutional friction among various administrative levels in another critical problem. This paper, however, focuses on the successful experiences and presents the research and practices of the WSI techniques for paddy in China, and introduces policies and incentive for water savings in rice-based systems.
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