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WFL Publisher Science and Technology Meri-Rastilantie 3 B, FI-00980 Helsinki, Finland e-mail: [email protected] Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment Vol.11 (2): 1025-1032. 2013 www.world-food.net The status quo of desertification and the prevention strategy in Xinjiang Fangmiao Chen 1*, Jiali Xie 2, Wei Zheng 3, Ying Liu 1, Tian Ping Lu 3, Qibo Zhao 5, Yuegao Hu1 and Mohamad Hesam Shahrajabian 1 1 College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing100194, China. 2Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou,730000,China. 3College of Grassland and Environment Sciences, Xinjiang Agriculture University, Xinjiang, 830052, China. 4Institute of Desertification Studies, Xinjiang Academy of Forestry Sciences, Xinjiang 830063, China. 5 Institute of Economic Crops Research, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xinjiang 830000, China. *e-mail: [email protected] Received 21 February 2013, accepted 28 April 2013. Abstract Xinjiang is the important border area and ethnic minority region in China. Desertification has become significant restraint during the development of western regions and the socioeconomic construction. Applying the geographical structural analysis method, the evolution of the geographical systems in Xinjiang since 1949 is described as below: expansion of arable land, decrease of productivity and quantity of grassland, decrease of the natural forests with the increase of planted forests followed by water competition with farmland and grassland, wetland, glacier shrink and groundwater level descent, sandlot expansion, threatening oasis, population explosion and the tension of resources in community. The general trend could be called ”three increases and three decreases”, that is the expansion of arable land, community, sandlot and the shrink and degradation of lawn, woodland, wetland. The analysis shows that human behavior is the dominant factor leading to the deterioration of desertification. According with the above problems, six suggestions are presented: 1) Recognizing the significance of anti-desertification from a strategic angle, 2) Based on the features of the northern, southern and eastern parts of Xinjiang, implementing prevention and treatment cooperatively, 3) Guiding the work with anti-desertification engineering methodology, 4) Advancing the cooperation with Shanghai Cooperation Organization, 5) Pay attention to the public’s interest and need, harmonizing the relations among the public, enterprises and state, 6) Relying deeply on science and technology. Key words: Desertification, degradation, geographical system, “six-unit” method. Introduction Xinjiang is located in China’s northwest border. With an area of 1.6649 million km2, it accounts for one sixth of the country’s total land area, and it is surrounded by eight countries, with a land border line of about 5600 km. Xinjiang is China’s largest province, which has the longest land border, and adjacent to the largest number of countries. There are 40 ethnic minorities which account for 59.9% of the total population in Xinjiang. It makes this region an important border ethnic autonomous region. Affected by many factors, Xinjiang‘s desertification situation is grim, and now it has become the province with the biggest, most widely distributed and most serious desertificated area in China. In 2009, the desertification area is 1.0712 million km2 big which accounts for 64.34% of its total area and 40.8% 26 of the total desertification area in China. At present, 92% of the region’s cities and counties, 68.6% of farms, and 12 million people are suffering from desertification hazards 33. Our study relies on geographical structure methods with the method of analysis of arable land, grassland, woodland, wetlands-water system, sandlot, community, so we can grasp the overall situation of Xinjiang and provide basis for construction projects to combat desertification. Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.11 (2), April 2013 The Basic Situation of the Six-Units of Geographical Structure Arable land: Xinjiang‘s agriculture has a long history, and it is the most important oasis agriculture production area in China. Since Han Dynasty, there has been land cultivated activities. After 1949, the arable land had a significant increase in the total area, but the general quality of these farmlands was so poor that a lot of them were abandoned. In 1949, Xinjiang‘s farmland area was 120.97 x104 ha; in 2010, it increased to 412.46 x 104 ha with a net increase of 2.41 times 4, 37 most of them were from cultivated grassland and wetland. Because of the hot dry weather the oasis agriculture is seriously salinized. In 2008, the salinized farmland area was 1.62 million ha, compared with 2001, showing a net increase of approximately 1/3 43. Bayan Gol State, Kashi and Aksu in Southern Xinjiang are suffering the most from the farmland salinization, as 54.95%, 48.72%, 43.27%, respectively, of the total farmlands 30. In 2010, the area of high-production land was just 36.6 x 104 ha, and accounted for just 12% of the total cultivated land. According to the typical survey, the farmers interviewed in Zhaosu and Wusu regions said that the fertility of the cultivated land has been declined, and if farmers want to maintain the production of the land, they must increase the fertilizer and the number of irrigations 1025 in the cultivated land. Because of the infertility, salinization and the serious wind erosion, more and more cultivated lands were abandoned. From 1949 to 2004, about 66.6 x 104 to 100 x 104 ha of arable land in Xinjiang was abandoned due to the salinization, and it was taken up 20% to 30% of the total cultivated area. The abandonment was relatively serious in southern part, and this phenomenon was widespread on the late of 20th century in the majority of districts. From 1949 to the last 1990s, the area of abandoned land was 1.06 x 104 ha in Hetian and Luopu, and in the 1970s to 1980s, the area of abandoned land was 50,000 ha in the Manas River Basin 12, 38. In recent years, a large number of problems on reclamation of arable land already persist because of farmland economic benefits. In this study, 36 farmers of Niya Town Minfeng County were investigated, 75% of them revealed that their family arable land increased in the past five years. Generally speaking, although the arable land area is expanding, the arable land resources are always tense. From 1949 to 2000, the per capita arable land area decreased from 0.236 to 0.202 ha 34. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the per capita arable land area is still in the trend of decreasing. Grassland: Xinjiang is one of the five provinces of pasture animal husbandry in China, and it has the extensive natural grassland. After 1949, the grassland appeared three essential characteristics: the area of the grassland continued to decrease, the production descended and the grass disaster happened frequently. From 1980 to 1999, the area of the natural grassland decreased at the speed of 16% from 5725.9 x 104 to 4809.02 x 104 ha 24. In 2007, the area of deteriorated grassland was 45.8 million ha, it expanded nearly 10 times more than 1980, and the degradation rate increased 15 times51. The quantity and quality of the grassland affected the productions directly. In the past five years, the production of the dry grass yield decreased 1191.4 x104 tons with a rate of 33.5% 8. In the aspects of the county scale, the production of fresh grass in Zhaosu, Wusu and Mulei decreased by 10%, 30% and 17.26%, respectively 23, 54. The herdsmen interviewed in Zhaosu and Wusu said that the grassland changed in a drastic way, lots of grassland just perished. At macroscopic level, the grassland witnesses a decrease of theoretical stocking rate of animals. The number of the animals dropped from 7191.9 x104 (in the 1970s) to 359 x104 (in 2008), the decreasing amplitude was more than 50% 8. The number of practical stocking animals increased several times after 1949 in Xinjiang, reaching 5700 x 104 19, which exceeded the theoretical stocking rate by 2/3. The contradiction between the theoretical and practical stocking rate increased the pressure of the grassland, which is the trigger of the ecological disorder of grassland. The proportion of the poison grassland area in Yili Valley (in the north of Xinjiang) exceeds 1/5 21. It is 15.5% in the province of Aletai, 15.6% in Nilka and 15% in Zhaosu 23, 27, 29. Insects and pests also cause the serious loss. From 1949 to the beginning of this century, the area of grasshopper – damaged grassland in Xinjiang accumulated up to 24 million ha. The area of rat –damaged grassland was about 6.2 million ha; the annual loss of pasture weed was more than 1 million tons 48. In the near future, the situation is still not optimistic. In 2008, the area of grasshopper damaged grassland already reached up to 0.97 million ha, and the rat –damaged grassland has already been up to 2.67 million ha in Urumqi and Changji prefecture. It was a serious destruction 50. 1026 Woodland: The natural forest in Xinjiang mainly distributes in the mountain zone or around the wetlands which contains appropriate water. There are two important features in the natural forest: the simple structure of the forest and the sensitive environment. Since 1949, the degradation of the forest has been serious happened. The Populus forest in the Downstream area of the Tarim River reduced by 86%; from 1950s to 1980s, the spruce forest in northern Tianshan Mountain and Altay Shan reduced 2.5x104 ha 48 and Larch forest reduced 2.6 x 104 ha. From 1950s to 1990s, the forest land area in Aragan area reduced 11.53 x 104 ha 2. From 1950s to the later1970s, wetland forest area in Gan River region reduced 23.33 x 104 ha, declined more than 50% 40. In past 10 years, the poplar, Tamarix spp. and Haloxylon ammodendron forests and bushes on the edge of the Weigan-Kuche Delta Oasis reduced 12.58 x 104 ha 20. In 2009, Xinjiang has a forest area of 201.62 x 104 ha, a shrub land area of 462.78 x 104 ha forest coverage rate of 4.02%, compared with 1994, the forest land area increased by 64,500 ha, forest coverage rate increased 1.39% 37, 47. This is because of the artificial forest construction after the 1990s. Although, some forests have been restored, but the problems still exist. Because the farmers contend for water, some Populus euphratica forest areas are still in degradation. Furthermore, because of the large water consumption in the artificial forest construction, the sustainable ability of these forests is still a problem. Wetland-water system: The Xinjiang wetlands mainly distribute in the Tarim River Basin, Altay region and Bortala Mongol Autonomous District and other places. In 2008, the total area of natural wetlands was 126.74 x 104 ha, accounting for 0.76% of the total land area in Xinjiang 12. The basic characteristics of wetland desertification in this region are the shrinkage and the disappearance of a large number of wetlands. In modern times, Xinjiang‘s wetlands are shrinking with an alarming rate. In 1949, the natural wetlands area was 2.8 million ha 1, in the past 60 years, more than 55% of these wetlands disappeared. Lop Nur, Manas Lake have suffered from dry-up 45, 53, many other lakes are also shrinking with a high-speed. Since 1949, the Ebinur Lake area has reduced by nearly 50%, 4.7 x 104 ha of reed disappeared. From 1944 to 2011Barkol Lake area has reduced from 112,000 to 3,700 ha. In the period of 1960s-1980s, Wulungu Lake shrunk by 8.35 x 104 ha, compared to the 1980s, Ganjiahu reed production reduced by 2/3. From 2000 to 2007, the Bosten Lake area decreased by 18.7%, Marsh area reduced by 40% 3, 11, 31, 36, 40. Lakes shrinkage closely related to the drying up and reduced upstream river runoff, at the same time, it also lead to overall environmental deterioration and desertification along the river land, such as what has already happened to Kongquehe River, Kaidu River, Manas River and Tarim River. The change in the Tarim River Basin is the most significant one. After the 1960s, about 320 km of midstream and downstream of Tarim River had dried up. From 1990 to 2000, wetland degradation in the middle and lower reaches of Tarim River led to the increase of 8.1 x 104 ha of the sandy Gobi area and a 81% reduction of the Populus forest 6, 7. In order to tackle the ecological water demand in the lower reaches of Tarim River until the end of 2010, 11 times of downstream ecological water transportation has been implemented, which brought some achievements. Melting glaciers and falling water tables are also the basic signs of the wetlandwater system changes. As the climate turns warmer, glacier suffers a significant reduction. Over the past 26 to 44 years the total area Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.11 (2), April 2013 of 1800 glaciers in Xinjiang reduced by 11.7% 52. According to a long-term monitoring, from 1962 to 2008, the Urumqi glacier area had narrowed 15.6% 4. In addition, Xinjiang‘s groundwater levels also declined totally. From 2000 to 2008, groundwater resources decreased 18.5% by a rate of 1.47 billion m3/year 36 in the last 10 years, the groundwater level in the Weigan-Kuche Delta Oasis went down by 1m/year 20. Since the 1970s, groundwater level surrounding the Ebinur Lake declined 2-3 m 44. According to the field survey, in the past five years, the average groundwater level dropped at a speed of 6- 8 m/year in some parts of northern Xinjiang. Sandlot: The deserts and the sandification areas in Xinjiang are large and the environment is extreme. The increasing sandification area and the expansion of the desert have been the overall trend since long times. Currently, the sandification area in Xinjiang is 74.67 x 104 km2, accounting for 44.85% of the territory of Xinjiang and 43.1% of the total sandification area of China 26. Compared with the beginning of the 20th century, Xinxiang’s sandification area increased 11.7 x 104 km2 35. In addition, 10 deserts and sand lands with different sizes have been formed, of which the Taklimakan desert and Gurbantunggut desert, respectively located by the southern and northern side of Tianshan Mountains are the biggest desert and sand land, with an area of 33 x 104 and 4.88 x 104 km2, respectively. In the past 2000 years, Taklimakan desert has spread into the south area by 80 to 100 km 22. In the middle of 20th century, the width of the Green Corridor in the lower reaches of the Tarim River was 3 to 5 km, but in 2000, it contracted to 1 km 48. Similar to the case of the Gurbantunggut Desert in Northern Xinjiang in 2006, the southern edge of desertification area was 19,355 km2, expanding 973 km2 more than desertification in 1986, with an average annual expansion of 51 km2 32. The expansion of sandification land in Xinjiang is not only the culprit of encroachment of oasis but also an important source of sand or dust storms which serious impact on the surrounding ecological environment. Community: Since 1949, both industrialization and urbanization in Xinjiang region were rapid, and caused the expansion of both urban area and population. In 1949, there was just one city in Xinjiang, which was Dihua (Urumqi) with population of 90,000. Today, there are 2 cities, 4 municipalities directly under autonomous region, and 15 cities under prefectures or Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang. In Urumqi, the resident population is 3.11 million. The urban built-up area has been undergoing a fast growth since 1978, which expanded 3 times in the past 30 years, to an area of 800 km2. Community expansion and increasing population density result in significant pressure on resources. Since 1978 until now, the daily water consumption per capita in Xinjiang urban area has increased from 54 to 148.7 litre/day, which led to water crisis. For example, in the summer of 2010, the daily water consumption in Urumqi was nearly 100,000 m3 more than the number in 2009 42. In county-level cities, there were also problems with water, the daily water shortage in Wusu old downtown area increase to 6000 m3 in 2010. In addition, the energy demand also continues to increase. From 2006 to 2009, the urban citizens gas consumption increased by 22.2% with 99.68 x 104 people in Urumqi; the amount if city gas and natural gas consumption showed an increase of 56% and 82%, respectively. In past 20 years, the industrial electricity consumption, coal consumption and oil consumption in Xinjiang Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.11 (2), April 2013 have grown 6, 1.4 and 3.8 times, respectively. Xinxiang’s annual total energy consumption in 2008 is 4 times of that in 1990 37. Behind the rapid industrial development, urbanization and the improved of life quality, Xinjiang, as a big energy province of western China is facing a huge potential consumption of natural resources as well as increasing pressure on resources. In summary, since the mid-20th century, disregard of the rapid social and economic development in Xinjiang, the desertification problem tends to be more severe at the same time. The six-dimension geographical structures of the arable land, grassland, woodland, wetlands- water system, sandlot and community is changing drastically, and the main indications are as following: farmland expansion, decrease of the cultivated land quality, grassland degradation (reduction of grassland productivity), changes in woodland structure (reduction of natural forests and serious water content problems between artificial forestry, farmland and grassland), shrinkage of wetlands, decrease of water resources, sand land expansion on oasis, community overpopulation, resource shortages etc. In conclusion, this phenomenon can be described as the “three ups and three downs” trend, is the area of arable land, community systems and sand land is up, but the area of wetlands - water system, grasslands, and woodlands is down. The geographic system architecture changes drastically, and results in the system function deterioration, the ecological crisis, as the fundamental restricting factors for the socio-economic development, is increasing. Reasons of Analysis Natural factors The geographical features of Central Asia and Xinxiang’s special geographical position intensify the desertification: Xinjiang is located in the hinterland of the Eurasian continent, where there is low rainfall, high evaporation, and rich in mineral and energy resources. This region is a channel connecting between China and the Islamic countries, which makes the religious and social situation quite complex. Bordered by 8 countries, Xinjiang has a relatively low population density in Central Asia, which is only higher than the population of Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia. In 2009, Xinjiang’s arable land area per capita and water resources per capita were 0.19 ha/person, 3798 m3/person, respectively, which was in the middle level in Central Asia. In the same year, the per capita GDP is only below Russia and Kazakhstan (Table 1). Xinjiang which is China’s border region, is always the core area communication between inland and coastal, eastern and western from the geography, environment, and economic aspects. In 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was founded, of which China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are members. This organization has made important progress in strengthening regional economic, political and security contact among these countries, and ensures a rapid development of the regional economy. In this process, Xinjiang plays an important role as connection point. Harsh natural conditions change fundamentally in South, North and East Xinjiang: Xinjiang belongs to an arid and semi-arid area, where the overall climate is dry, the rainfall is low and the evaporation is high. Xinjiang‘s average annual rainfall is only 190 mm that makes the region with the least precipitation in China. The terrain in Xinjiang can be presented as “three mountains clip 1027 Table 1. Comparison of the resources, economic indicators between Xinjiang and eight bordering countries. Indicators The population in 2008 (ten thousand) Population density (person per square kilometer) (2008) Cultivated area (2009) The area of cultivated land per capita (ha/person) (2009) Per capita water resources (m3/person) (2009) GDP of average per capita (US $) (2009) Xinjiang Russia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Pakistan Mongolia India Afghanistan 2130.81 14185 1588.8 532.1 695.2 16970.8 267.1 115534.8 2980.3 12.8 8.7 5.8 26.6 48.8 215.5 1.7 284.4 45.7 412.46 12175 2340 127.6 74.2 2043 96 15792.3 779.3 0.19 0.9 1.5 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.3 3798 30405 4736 9199 9774 323 12833 1252 1645 2919.85 8693 7019 851 767 1017 1560 1031 486 Data sourcesAccording to the Xinjiang Statistical Yearbook 2010 and FAO data. two basins”. Tianshan mountains act as an axis between southern and Northern where the differences in climatic conditions are obviously affected by the Arctic Ocean moist airflow, the weather in north is cold, windy, and it has a relatively high precipitation, while in southern, it is warmer, dusty, surrendered by the Tianshan Mountains, which has very little rainfall. The ecological landscape in Southern and Northern Xinjiang also shows big differences. In the Southern border, the desert oasis and irrigated farmland are important natural landscapes; in the Northern part, there are abundance of pastures and simultaneously developed agriculture and animal husbandry. In addition, the areas of Turpan and Hami are called eastern Xinjiang where has both southern and northern climatic characteristics, but the overall natural condition is not so optimistic. Turpan Basin is quite drought, which belongs to the continental warm desert climate. Hami area has more sand, and the climate is also dry, the day-night temperature difference is large, belonging to the semi-arid continental climate. The natural conditions in Xinjiang vary in different regions, and also help to form different types of desertification. phenomenon, and it is very easy to trigger large-scale desertification disaster in the case of human incentives 9, 39. Human factors Large area of cultivated land and diverted water driven by Agricultural development are the first factors leading to desertification: Since the ancient times, Xinjiang is the main land of military cultivation. After 1949, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps started to reclaim and cultivate lands, and made a great contribution to the country’s border stability, as well as supported Mainland socio-economic construction. For nearly 30 years, along with the reform and opening up, with the advantage of more per capita resources, Xinjiang has gradually developed to China’s important production base of grain, cotton, fruit, and vegetables. Compared with 1978, in 2009, the grain, oilseeds, cotton, potato, vegetable production growth in Xinjiang increased to 311%, 619%, 4589%, 550% and 1519%, respectively, which were higher than the national growth level, and accounting for increasing proportion of relevant indicators in nationwide, especially the grain and cotton, vegetable production growing rapidly (Table 2). Behind the leaping development, expansion of arable land, ruined pastures and wet wasteland, deforestation, intensified water stress are occurred. The arable land which is artificial intervened by human factors in geographic system, and become the first factor to influence other systems and the resident lifestyle. Owing to the recent global warming, the adverse situation of natural conditions in Xinjiang is exacerbating: Higher temperature is also an important contributing factor for drought and desertification. In recent 100 years, the global temperature has been rising, especially since 1970s 49. Under this trend, from 1951 to 2005, China’s average temperature increased 0.25°C/10 a 5. Development of urbanization and industrialization is the basic From 1951 to 2006, the overall temperature in Xinjiang region was cause of desertification in Xinjiang since 1949: Since 1949, the rising 13. From 1955 to 2000, the average temperature growth rate Xinjiang population was in an increasing trend. In 2009, the of the southern Xinjiang was 0.127°C/10 a; over the same period, population is 21.5863 million, which increased by nearly 4 times the northern warming rate was 0.36 °C/10 a; from 1961 to 2006, the compared with 1949. At the same time, the development of warming rate in Balikun, Yiwu and Hami area in the eastern part urbanization is also rapid, the ratio of rural and urban population were 0.614°C/10 a, 0.303°C/10 a and 0.13°C/10 a, respectively. In in the last 60 years developed from 87.8:12.2 to 40:60. The 1949, individual districts in northern, eastern Xinjiang temperature changed significantly, which was higher than the national and world Table 2. Xinjiang’,s socio-economic development in the country’s position during 1949-2009. level, that shows a strong warming Xinjiang Percentage in C china trend. The warming process in the Item 1949 1978 2000 2009 1949 1978 2000 2009 southern part is relatively slower, FOOD 84.77 370.01 808.6 1152 0.75% 1.21% 1.75% 2.17% but facing a higher temperature in OIL 2.87 10.33 60.14 63.91 1.12% 1.98% 2.04% 2.03% Production of the winter than usual time 39, 41, 46. potato 1.09 22.91 64.01 126.06 0.11% 0.72% 1.74% 4.21% main crops 73.44 970.67 0.88% 1.63% At the same time, Xinjiang vegetable 69.79 527.84 1.24% (1000 tons) (1980) (2008) (1980) (2008) showed a volatility trend of the cotton 0.51 5.5 150 252.4 2.54% 33.96% 39.58% increased rainfall which is uneven. Industrial production 2.2 0.63% 33.91 1061.29 4184.5 0.80% 1.24% 0.76% The weather change increases the (10 million Yuan) (1952) (1952) Data sources according to the Xinjiang Statistical Yearbook 2010 ; 50 years of Xinjiang :1945-2005 ; China Statistical Yearbook 2010 ; 60 years occurrence of floods, droughts, of Agricultural Statistics in China . China Statistical Yearbook 1996 . China Statistical Yearbook 2000 ; Strategy for Agricultural Research and Regional storms and other extreme weather Agricultural Rational Allocation of Resources: Integrated Environmental Management and Coordinated Regional Development ; 2008 China Economic 36, 37 14 15 47 17 16 10 Census Yearbook 25. 1028 Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.11 (2), April 2013 population growth, especially the urban population increase led to unprecedented demand for resources. Urbanization paralleled with industrialization causes severe changes in the production structure. The proportion of the first, second and tertiary industries in GDP changed from 64.7:22:13.3 in 1952 to 17.8:45.1:37.1 in 2009. Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fisheries were shrinking, while industry, construction, transportation and service industries underwent a substantial increase. From 1949 to 2009, industrial output value increased by 122.4 times, moreover industrial production expansion has the most significant impact on environment 36, 37, 47. According to a survey of the 2710 mining enterprises in Xinjiang, mining have already damaged 90,734 ha of land in which farmland, woodland, grassland accounted for 40%, sand land accounted for 60% 9. From 2002 to 2006, the industrial waste water, solid waste emissions, industrial emissions in Xinjiang were increasing with 4%, 15.8%, 25% per year, respectively 18. The intense industrialization development associated with urban sprawl, which makes the rural and pastoral areas to shrink accordingly and the changes in life and production structure. It is becoming the basic parameter which affects the ecological environment in Xinjiang. There are significant gap between the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and the local, as well as the low overall technological standard, which have brought underlying risk of environmental damage: Xinjiang is in Northwest of China, where a gradient difference in technology and information level with the southeast coastal areas exists, and the production is mainly extensive because of the relatively backward technology. Comparatively speaking, the scientific and technological level of construction corps is higher than the local agricultural areas whose level is also higher than in pastoral areas. In 2009, the population in Xinjiang Corps accounted for only 11.9% of the total population, but created 27.5% of the output of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery. The effective irrigation system area in the corps area is close to 100%, while it is 77% in the local. The popularization of water-saving irrigation methods such as drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation are more than 90% in the Corps area, compared to 20% to 30% in the local. The crop yields and the agricultural facilities utilization rate in the Corps area are also higher than local. For example, in 2009, the cotton lint yield in the Corps overrun the local by 180 kg/ha, and the agricultural machinery power in the Corps is 3.44 times of the local 36, 37. Compared to agricultural areas, the production technology in the pastoral areas has been improved over the years, and the construction progress also quite small. In the area of industrial and urban construction, some enterprises from the inner part of China transferred the lowtech industries with high pollution and high energy-consumption to Xinjiang because of the low-cost opportunity in the name of structural adjustment. This becomes an important factor, affecting the local environmental, social and economical construction; which also restricts the efficiency of resource utilization. The basic reasons of the problem are the imperfect local resource management system and the imperfect mechanism: Economic benefit is the basic drive power in the recent economic development in the western region. Local administrations tend to increase regional benefits and achievements, even without adequate environmental planning, they Laissez-faire a large number of Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.11 (2), April 2013 foreign capital and enterprises to state into Xinjiang, and carry out the decrease in restrictions for the use of land resources, promote the development of mining, heavy industry, which frequently result in damage to the environment. The basic reasons of such problems are: careless omission on the division of resource management by government, the ambiguous tasks between the upper and lower levels, imperfect coordination mechanism, and low operational efficiency, all of these cannot meet the needs of the developing reality. A new round of economic construction is likely to become a potential to exacerbate desertification motivation: According to the Xinjiang “12th Five-Year Plan “, from 2010 to 2015, the region’s average annual GDP growth will increase more than 10%, and the total investment in the industry and energy part will reach 150 billion Yuan. Deepen the industrialization in industrial restructuring; the average annual industrial added value will increase by more than 17%, urbanization level will be raised to 48%. The energy industry will be the focus of future construction. In the coming10 years, Turpan area plans to attract 250 billion Yuan to the investment of energy industry 28. In view of the fragile ecological environment in Xinjiang, the current six-dimension geographical constructions will have been met resources and environmental shortages; it cannot bear the burden of industrial and agricultural development, so a higher science and technology are required even in the same level of industrial development compare with previous situations. Even a mistake may worsen desertification in Xinjiang. In this regard, we should remain sober-minded. Proposal to the Construction of Combating Desertification in Xinjiang Combating desertification from a strategic perspective: The reasons of desertification in Xinjiang are complex, and the outbreak of desertification lasts for a long period of time, which causes a serious result to local development. Furthermore, people‘s awareness of desertification is still at a low level. All of these issues aforesaid are the basic reasons for the long wanton spreading of desertification. Xinxiang’s natural geographic system is relatively fragile, the desertification shows a trend of whole out breaking. Now Xinjiang is facing the global climate change and a new situation of western development, it is in an important strategic position of international exchanges. All of those make the issue of combating desertification have a major strategic impact on Xinxiang’s healthy socio-economic development. Only a thorough desertification combating can ensure the orderly development of every sector in Xinjiang. Because the problem of desertification covers a wide range of issues, we need pay attention to mobilize the community to clearly understand and grasp the real situation of desert, so as to create a favorable atmosphere for the whole society to combat desertification. Consider the characteristics in South, North and East of Xinjiang; take a prevention-treatment approach: Due to differences in natural conditions and the composite effect of natural and social factors, the desertification situations in South, North and, East of Xinjiang are different. The natural condition in the southern part of Xinjiang is relatively poor, the desertification mainly consists of an oasis, wetland-water system, environment changes and takes the vicious desertification as a basic form. So 1029 the basic task for the future is the governance controlling of desertified land. In history, the northern part of Xinjiang was mainly nomadic since 1949, people have been cultivated arable land along rivers, wetlands and watersheds. Especially in last 30 years, since 1978, the implementation of the grassland and livestock contracting system has been introduced into that region. These phenomena also brought in side-effects such as: Oasis agricultural salinization, desertification, wetlands-water system variation, grassland degradation and grazing livestock industry weakness. Desertification is still growing. The future key task is to take the parallel approach of prevention and treatment. Eastern part of Xinjiang is the eastern portal of this province, and an ancient Silk Road city where the human civilization has a far-reaching impact on the natural environment. The desertification is a historic problem. Take into consideration the poor natural conditions, dry and windy weather, we should focus on the governance of wind erosion, wetlands - water systems desertification which are caused by human activities. Guide the construction in accordance with the engineering theory of combating desertification: Contemporary desertification problem is mainly caused by human activities and to some extent by natural factors. Therefore, we should mobilize all members of society in various ethnic groups to be involved in batches levels, make them understand the mechanism of desertification, and implement a proactive policy to combat desertification. According to the engineering theory of combating desertification, in the horizontal direction, the object task of desertification control can be broken down into six types of the areas: desertification of arable land, grassland desertification, forest land desertification, wetlands-water system desertification, sand land desertification and community desertification. In accordance with the natural, social attributes of the prevention objects, the object task of desertification control can be decomposed into following eight targets land and water resources protection, regional vegetation and biological resource protection, regional infrastructure protection (rail, road, living facilities, etc.), regional energy system protection, regional economy construction and protection, regional human resources construction and protection, regional cultural construction protection and regional community construction. In order to complete the systematic task of prevention and control, we need to mobilize the social forces, coordinate the production and living system, science and education system, management system with specific division of labor, and hierarchical sub-sector prevention task. Active collaboration with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to combat desertification: Most of Xinjiang’s neighbor countries are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The problem of desertification in these countries is also very severe. From the 1950s to the 1980s, a large area in these regions suffered from huge land reclamation, which caused severe ecological crisis in the Aral Sea, as well as shrinkage of large area of the wetlands. This bitter experience brought destruction to central Asia. In addition, there are different forms of the desertification problems in Pakistan, India, Mongolia and other countries as well. There are Many ethnic groups in this region, and the historical origins of the political culture produce 1030 complex interactions between countries, so in the process of construction projects to combat desertification in Xinjiang, all mentioned countries have to create conditions to cooperate with Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states, and strengthen communication and cooperation with other neighbors, coordinate governance and prevention, based on the regional social and natural features. Concern about the interests of the local population, coordinate the relationship between the state, enterprises and the interests of the local people: The ethnic composition in Xinjiang is complicated, and the structure of the social, political civilization is good. The interests relation between the state and local, enterprise and the public are so complicated, the management and construction requirements is high. Combating desertification is a strategic movement for the country. Nonetheless, we will face the adjustment of the interests. In this process, China need careful study and analyze every piece of work and the relationship between the interests of every parties, and the government should pay particular attention to the protection of the basic interests of the local population, and handle correctly the interests relations among states, local governments, enterprises and peopleas well as the short, medium and long-term arrangements of the interests of all parties. By these solid works, Xinjiang can strive to create a great national unity and common prosperity and achieve the development with harmony. Rely on science and technology whole-heartedly: The world has entered the era of science and technology. Human society will eventually need to rely on scientific and technological strength, in order to complete the task of combating desertification. Therefore, we need to take science and technology in an important position, make it the basic way of analyzing, understanding and combating desertification. Compared with the requirements of combating desertification, the current level of science and technology in Xinjiang cannot meet the needs, so the government should make efforts to make the masses to transfer to the scientific development on the basis of science and technology. Moreover, government should also make good use of the advantages of construction corps in Xinjiang, promote local technological development, put emphasis on science and technology popularization in agricultural and pastoral areas, and transfer the development mode from extensive one to an intensive industrialized one. In a co-operative direction, the autonomous regions should also make great efforts to train personnel, and learn from the local experience, combine foreign technology with the actual needs, and achieve technological innovation, to promote the ethnic regional socio-economic development and national environment construction. Acknowledgements This research was supported by the China National Key Basic Research Program (2013CB429901),the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41171400),the project of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science(21402017) and the major project of the National Social Science Fund(09ZD010). Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, Vol.11 (2), April 2013 References 1 Wang, B. C. and Zhang, H. J. 2009. The current ecological and environmental problems and protection countermeasures of wetland resources in Xinjiang. China New Technologies Products 8:138. 2 Yang, F. X. and Mu, G. J. 2001. 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