Trip to irrigation management station

Today is June 10, 2020, I have two major activities. One is to visit some fields to learn about irrigation water management technologies and the other is to work on long-term winter-wheat summer-maize experiment located at 300 mu（a unit of area measurement commonly used in China）.

The first stop was at the river irrigation technology

At this field we learned how farmers who have a field near the river can take advantage of irrigating their crops by pumping water from the nearby river and directing it to the field using plastic pipes. This method is cheap and convenient for the farmers who cultivate near the river. Also I had special experience seeing farmers plant trees along the river to protect the environment and ecosystems as well as building the network of forests.

The second stop was at the network of river irrigation

At this point we experienced how farmers together with village leaders organized the network of man-made rivers so as to get water to irrigate their crops and finally secure food security. This network of rivers fetches water from the Yellow River so farmers manage the water according to their needs and seasons.

The third stop was at the well irrigation technology

This technology is specifically for the farmers that have fields far away from the river. They dig a well and pump underground water using electricity and apply the water to the crop. In my view, this technology is very good for the African farmers especially for the farmers away from the rivers or fresh water lakes.

The last stop was at the drip irrigation technology

At this station, two CAU students worked together with farmers and the local community to demonstrate the drip irrigation in grapes. Farmers in this village use flooding irrigation which loses a lot of water due to evaporation, leaching and untargeted application of water. This also causes a lot of energy resources loss which increases production costs.

Drip irrigation technology will save a lot of water and thereby energy. Also drip irrigation technology provides a chance to apply water and fertilizer at the same time when the fertilizer is dissolved into water before being directed to the farm. This technology will save a lot of time and energy. However, a lot of studies are needed especially for African smallholders to apply this technology.

Working at long-term winter-wheat summer-maize crop rotation system experiment

I went to work at 300 mu field where long-term experiment is carried out on winter-wheat summer-maize cropping system.

We supervised maize planting and also we were placing plastic pegs on the plots to mark the field plots.