Food security is the "great of the nation". This year's government work report pointed out that one of the main expected goals for development in 2023 is to maintain grain output above 1.3 trillion jin. The first key task deployed in Document No. 2023 of the Central Committee in <> is to pay close attention to the stable production and supply of grain and important agricultural products.
China's existing cultivated land area is 19.18 billion mu, but the existing cultivated land irrigation area is only 10.44 billion mu, the irrigation rate of cultivated land is 54%, and nearly half of the cultivated land is still "looking at the sky". Food production is based on water. Research by the Chinese Academy of Sciences shows that among the factors affecting food production, water conservancy contributes more than 40%. Li Yuanyuan, vice president of the General Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Planning and Design of the Ministry of Water Resources, said that the development and utilization of water resources in most northern areas is excessive or close to excessive, and many irrigation areas rely on over-extraction of groundwater and over-exploitation of water resources. Behind the bumper grain harvests in successive years, the contradiction between more people and less land and water shortage has become increasingly prominent.
How to crack the "water bottleneck" of food production? Li Yuanyuan said: "The core of improving the security of grain and important agricultural products is to build high-standard farmland with drought irrigation and waterlogging drainage. "To increase the productivity of arable land and make the rice bowl more secure, it means turning more farmland into fertile land. He suggested that all localities comprehensively consider the climate and precipitation conditions and agricultural planting structure, scientifically and rationally determine the standards and layout of high-standard farmland construction, strengthen the construction of farmland water conservancy infrastructure, coordinate the implementation of irrigation water source projects, backbone irrigation and drainage channel projects, and field irrigation and drainage canal systems, and give priority to the construction of high-standard farmland on the irrigated area of cultivated land.
"It is necessary to combine the construction of the national water network to improve the ability of farmland irrigation and drainage in key areas." Li Yuanyuan believes that a number of key irrigation areas, water resources allocation and irrigation area water source replacement projects in key irrigation areas, areas with excessive water resources development and utilization should be laid out and built in conjunction with the construction of the main skeleton and major arteries of the national water network. Accelerate the high-quality development of the follow-up project of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, form the main network of the national water network as soon as possible, improve the carrying capacity of water resources in the Huang-Huai-Hai Basin and the safety level of irrigation water supply, and stabilize the grain production capacity in North China; At the same time, we will promote the construction of regional water networks in the northeast, northwest, southwest and southeast, improve the regional water resources allocation system, water supply guarantee network and irrigation and drainage guarantee system, and solve the water resource bottleneck that restricts China's irrigation development and ecological civilization construction.
"Irrigated arable land produces about 95% of China's fruit and cash crop products. The irrigated area of cultivated land plays an irreplaceable role in ensuring China's food security, rural economic development and increasing farmers' income. Gao Zhanyi, chairman of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, told a reporter from China Youth Daily.
Gao Zhanyi pointed out that at present, the problems of unmatched farmland water conservancy facilities, aging projects, and low construction standards still exist in China, insufficient investment in grassroots water conservancy projects, the construction progress lags behind the requirements of national modernization, and a long-term mechanism has not yet been formed for the management and protection of farmland water conservancy infrastructure.
"Irrigation area projects and farmland water conservancy engineering facilities are basic livelihood projects, which not only involve the interests of tens of millions of people, but also major matters related to the implementation of national food security and rural revitalization strategies." He suggested that the state further introduce specific preferential policies to strengthen the construction and management of irrigation areas and farmland water conservancy projects, and ensure that the construction and management of irrigation areas and farmland water conservancy projects catch up with the last train of national modernization.
At the investment level, Gao Zhanyi believes that governments at all levels should increase investment in the construction and management of irrigation areas and farmland water conservancy projects, and promote local government special bonds for water conservancy construction. At the same time, it will attract social capital investment, and actively explore how to reasonably determine the strength and proportion of government investment and social capital investment under the condition that the construction and management returns of irrigation and drainage projects in grain-growing areas are relatively low.
"Farmland water conservancy projects are systematic projects with a large range of areas. It is necessary to use the ideas and measures of systematic governance to accurately locate and solve all aspects of the "last mile" of grassroots water conservancy, and make overall plans and plans for the implementation of the construction and management of grassroots water conservancy projects. Gao Zhanyi said.
China Youth Daily / China Youth Network reporter Gao Lei Source: China Youth Daily