Agricultural Policies

Periodical

China's Agricultural Water Policy Reforms: Increasing Investment, Resolving Conflicts, and Revising Incentives

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agriculture Information Bulletin No. (AIB782), March (2003)

: Water shortages in important grain-producing regions of China may significantly affect China's agricultural production potential and international markets. Falling ground-water tables and disruption of surface-water deliveries to important industrial and agricultural regions have provoked concern that a more dramatic crisis is looming unless effective water conservation policies can be put into place rapidly. Opinion over how these problems will affect agricultural production varies. As the world's largest agricultural producing country and the largest producer of major commodities that rely heavily on irrigation (wheat and cotton, for instance), China's success or failure to address water problems effectively could have major impacts on international trade of agricultural commodities. Recent changes in water management policies may serve to bring about more effective water conservation. Whether China's water problems will affect agricultural production will depend on whether China's water management and policy institutions can respond effectively. While some observers argue that China's current water exploitation portends a serious crisis that will disrupt agricultural and industrial production, many argue that China has a large capacity to adapt and avoid such a future water crisis. To do so, however, China must establish water management practices that encourage water conservation. Changes are underway at all levels of China's water management system, but a variety of issues may limit the effectiveness of current water policies and reform efforts. This report provides an overview of the water problems facing agriculture in China and China's overall water management system.

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