Agricultural production conditions in China have also been improved remarkably.
By 1998, China has built up 85,000 reservoirs with a total storage capacity of 480 billion m3. The effective irrigation acreage was up to 51.24 million ha, accounting for 54% of the total farmland. 73% of saline and alkaline land has been effectively improved.
Agricultural input supply has also gained a fast increase. The domestic output of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and plastic film reached 30.1 million tons, 0.56 million tons and 0.7 million tons respectively.
Electricity use in the rural areas reached 198 billion kwh and the total power farm machinery 420-plus million kw. The rate of mechanical plowing, sowing and harvesting had reached 63%, 25%, and 15% respectively.
In 2001, the total power of farm machinery was up to 550.42 million Kw. The ratio of the mechanized farming area accounts for 47.4 percent of the total, that of the mechanized sown area 26.1 percent and of the mechanized harvesting area 18 percent.
In the same year, the irrigated area reached 54.2944 million ha, the fertilizer application 42.538 million tons and the fertilizer application per ha was 333.4 kg.
Edited by CECAT
2002/12/23
