Water, soil conservation boosts agricultural development in NW China

XINING, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Over the past decade, northwest China's Qinghai Province has made notable progress in improving its ecological environment through water and soil erosion control, which has in turn promoted agricultural and rural development.

Located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Qinghai is home to the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers, and many rare wildlife species. However, Qinghai's ecology is extremely fragile, with severe water and soil erosion.

Since 2012, the province has restored some 3,739 square km of area that had suffered from soil and water loss, according to the provincial water resources department.

The province has also utilized the construction of terraced fields as an effective way to control water and soil loss.

Relying on these terraces, Qinghai now has a special agricultural development mode, which improves the planting conditions of local agricultural products and benefits the local farmers.

Thanks to years of efforts, the grain yield per unit of land in the restored area of Qinghai has increased by more than 25 percent, benefiting 1.25 million villagers, and vegetation coverage in the restored area has grown by more than 15 percent.