Evaluation of cotton production under limited water resources in the arid region of Xinjiang, China
Evaluation of cotton production under limited water resources in the arid region of Xinjiang, China
复制标题
新疆干旱区水资源有限条件下棉花生产评价
作者:
Aiqin Zhao;Wei Xiuju
China is the world's largest cotton producer, consumer and importer, and Xinjiang is China's largest cotton producing area. The cotton production in Xinjiang is directly related to the income level of local farmers and also plays an important role in the development of the whole cotton industry. Xinjiang is situated in an arid region, and all agriculture in Xinjiang depends on irrigation. With the development of urbanization in Xinjiang water resources have become polluted. Meanwhile, as a result of climate change and the decrease in the availability of the fresh water in Xinjiang, the shortage of water for agriculture becomes increasingly serious. Thus, there is a continuing need for agriculture to reduce its water use rate. A mulched drip irrigation technique has been proven a great success. In this paper we used a large scale water and nitrogen coupling model, to estimate Xinjiang cotton production potential using mulched drip irrigation under the limited water supply. Since 2000, the cotton planting area in Xinjiang has shown a fluctuating and increasing trend. Encouraged by the increase of cotton price and government subsidies, the cotton planting area increased significantly after 2017, and the cotton planting area almost reached a maximum. The total cotton planting area in Xinjiang will be 2×106 ha in 2020. In 2020 the estimated maximum amount of water available for agriculture will be 4.95×1010 m3 and the available water per unit area for cotton will be approximately 3860 m3/ha. But according to our model, the optimal irrigation rate in southern and northern Xinjiang is 6040 and 5520 m3/ha respectively, and the lint yield potential per unit area is 2845 and 2384 kg/ha, respectively. Limited by the amount of water per unit area for cotton in 2020, the lint yield per unit area in southern and northern Xinjiang in 2020 could respectively reach 2721 and 2185 kg/ha, and the total lint yield in Xinjiang could reach 5.1×106 tonnes, by using mulched drip-irrigation. This yield will be 21% higher than the target expected by the local government (4.2×106 tonnes)