Xinjiang company helping Central Asian, African countries save water
A company in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has been exporting drip irrigation technology to Central Asian countries including Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in recent years to help them establish a modern water conservation system.
The technology has been applied to cotton fields and other crops in relatively arid land, covering an area of 150,000 mu (10,000 hectares) in nations in Central Asia and Africa as a modern water conservation demonstration project, said Zhou Jun, general manager of Xinjiang Tianye Group.
"The climate of countries in Central Asia is similar to that of Xinjiang and the drip irrigation under film mulch has been developing in Xinjiang for decades and it is very mature now."
Since 2006, the integration of water and fertilizer has been promoted in Xinjiang cotton field. In particular, the use of drip irrigation under film mulch has increased the irrigation guarantee rate, increased the utilization rate of fertilizers, and reduced the level of mechanical operations.
Drip irrigation allows for the optimal usage of water and fertilizers through their application close to crop roots, by delivering small water flows at low pressure through a variable number of emission points, which saves water. They are particularly useful in areas with a prolonged dry season that have a reliable water source.
The company not only exports irrigation facilities and related machines to countries in Central Asia and Africa but also holds regular training classes in those regions to ensure the technology is well adopted and expanded.
Xinjiang Tianye is one of China's largest water conservation facility development and production companies. Primarily introducing drip irrigation technology from Israel, the company has developed a series of irrigation facilities and products.
In recent years, the company has applied the water conservation technology to 10,000 hectares of farmland in 17 countries, including Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.
