China's agricultural water-use efficiency improves

BEIJING -- China's agriculture sector is becoming more water efficient as the country's high-efficiency water-saving irrigation area expands, official data showed.

China's high-efficiency water-saving irrigation area will reach more than 400 million mu (about 26.67 million hectares) by the end of this year, up from 350 million mu at the end of 2020, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

China will continue to develop efficient irrigation measures, such as sprinkler, drip, and pipeline irrigation, to enhance water saving, said Wu Hongwei, an official with the ministry at an irrigation forum there.

Irrigation technology has contributed to the country's grain security. China's irrigated land, which accounts for about 50 percent of the country's arable land, produces 75 percent of its grain and over 90 percent of its cash crops.