Comprehensive sustainable development of dryland agriculture in Northwest China

A study on comprehensive sustainable development of dryland agriculture in Northwest China was conducted at Zhengyuan Dryland Agriculture Research Station from 1991 to 1995. The prototype system detailed in this paper, emphasizes a form of sustainable agriculture composed of a technical system for increased water use efficiency and a technical system for diverse crop products and by-products. Favorable results were obtained with the prototype system in the experimental and field site of 1000 hectares. The key features of the prototype system included selection for: drought resistance crops having low water requirement and high yield potential, intercropping systems with high yield and high benefit, a grain crop yield computer model, nutrient management with emphasis on fertilizer balance and water use efficiency, tillage management and polythene film mulching techniques, establishment of water storage tanks for harvesting runoff to provide life saving/critical irrigation, ammonia-treated wheat straw and silage (corn stem) as livestock forage, etc. Further research is required to techniques for water harvesting and critical irrigation and water budgeting under conditions with different crops, and for application of antitranspirants.