Rice Impact in Henan Irrigation Districts along the Lower Yellow River Reaches

Abstract

"The Henan Province, located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River Basin, is one of the staple areas of food production in China. There are 26 large and medium-sized irrigation districts along the river and the total area irrigated by Yellow River water is 523.56 thousand hectares, of which 85 thousand hectares are paddy fields, accounting for 16% of the total irrigated area in Henan. Traditionally, the deep flooding irrigation method is used and the field irrigation duty during rice growing season is about 1500 - 1800mm, so a large quantity of water diverted from the river is used for rice production. However, the shortage of water resources in the Yellow River Basin has become very serious, therefore the rice culture in the irrigation districts and its impact on Yellow River water diversion are worthwhile to pay attention and discuss. This paper firstly has an introduction of the Henan irrigation districts along the Yellow River reaches and the current status of rice culture in the irrigation districts. Then, the major impacts of rice cultivation are summarized according to the data collected from some main irrigation districts. Finally, the trend of rice cultivation at the irrigation districts is discussed, and some appropriate management options are suggested."