Original title: People's Daily pays attention to drip irrigation water-saving technology in Minqin County, Gansu Province: calculating the water-saving account of one acre of field (when spring plowing is in progress)
Reporter Wang Jintao, Zhao Shuaijie, People's Daily (April 10, 2024, Edition 02)
Farmers in Minqin County operate agricultural machinery to sow seeds in fields using shallow drip irrigation. Photo by Wang Zhenyan (People's Vision)
Drip irrigation facilities in Minqin County wheat shallow burial drip irrigation technology demonstration base. Photo by Wang Juhong (People's Vision)
Spring irrigation does not wait for anyone, but Zeng Lingda sleeps steadily every night.
"Staying up late and queuing up to water the ground, that was in the old days. Walking into Zhongping Village, Jiahe Town, Minqin County, Gansu Province, villager Zeng Lingda pointed to the wheat field and said that the days of waving shovels, hoes, and ditches to check for leaks and digging soil have become history. "Now we use drip irrigation, so people don't have to stare at it, and the water is poured by themselves. ”
Minqin County, which is nestled between the two deserts of Badain Jaran and Tengger, has an average annual precipitation of just over 110 millimeters and evaporation of more than 2,600 millimeters. For the farmers here, the biggest agricultural task of the year is to stop the spring and hope for water to water the land.
Now, although there is less pain in staying up late and queuing up to water the land, there is also an extra amount of money that was not available before: drip irrigation facility fee, 200 yuan per mu. "Is it a good deal?" the reporter asked.
Zeng Lingda didn't speak, picked up the pen with a smile, and calculated an account for the reporter: flood irrigation, 600 cubic meters of water per mu of land, about 180 yuan a year, and drip irrigation, more than 400 cubic meters of water per mu, nearly 140 yuan a year.
"Counting the water fee alone, it saves 40 yuan per mu, and plus the facility fee, it is about 160 yuan per mu. However, Zeng Lingda, who has been engaged in agriculture for more than 30 years, knows that farming is a comprehensive account, and the benefits depend on the output: flood irrigation, where the water goes and where the fertilizer gathers, resulting in uneven nutrition and different growth, affecting the yield; drip irrigation is different, water and fertilizer are directly "fed" to the wheat roots, the nutrition is balanced, the growth is neat, and an acre of land can make more than 300 catties of grain, which is equivalent to more than 300 yuan of "birth".
"The income and expenditure are offset, and one acre of land earns nearly 200 yuan more. Zeng Lingda asked rhetorically, "Do you think it's a good deal?"
Reduce costs, increase production, and increase profits, and people will be less "guilty". Walking in Minqin County during the spring irrigation period, drip irrigation pipes have built a "live" irrigation network: it only takes half a day from applying for water to irrigating the field.
"Tick!" With the crisp sound of "punching in", the water pump in the field was immediately activated, and the bubbling water slowly flowed into the field along the pipe. "How big the ground is, how much water there is, there is no waste of running and leaking. Zeng Lingda said that after the irrigation is completed, the floodgates are automatically closed.
From flood irrigation to "careful budgeting", behind the visible water-saving technology is the invisible awareness of water-saving. Farmers have taken the initiative to reduce crops with high water consumption and low efficiency, and expand the planting area of high-efficiency water-saving crops. "This year, we will clear out a part of the land and plant potatoes instead. Zeng Lingda asked other growers that one mu of potatoes only needs 300 cubic meters of water for drip irrigation, but the yield can exceed 7,000 catties.
"In recent years, through the construction of reservoirs, the reconstruction of water transmission channels, the development of water-saving training, and the construction of smart irrigation pilots, high-efficiency water-saving technologies will cover three-quarters of the county's sown area this year. Wang Xingbin, deputy director of the Minqin County Water Bureau, said that in 2023, the effective utilization coefficient of farmland irrigation water will reach 0.638, which is higher than the national average.
Before the Qingming Festival, the spring wheat of Zeng Lingda's family ushered in the third round of drip irrigation, and in about a week after that, it will break through the ground and sprout. "This saliva before the emergence of seedlings is very important, and only when you are full of 'drink' can you grow well. Zeng Lingda leaned over to check the drip irrigation belt, the dripping water was silent, and the wheat field was moist.
Source: People's Daily client