The Land Reclamation in Xinjiang since the Founding of New China

The land reclamation of Xinjiang has gone through three periods since the founding of New China: 1) from 1950 to 1977,the economic activities in this region were mainly reclamation to increase the area of farmland.Although the cultivated land area increased gradually,the productivity level of agriculture and food supply was lower because of the "great leap forward" and the "ten years convulsion".In addition,importation is needed in individual year.2) From 1978 to 1995,the economic activities in Xinjiang were mainly enhancing per unit area yield without expanding the reclaimed area,leading to substantial increase in food yield.In addition,the area of food supply was gradually reduced,area of cotton was increased,resulting in not only food self-reliance but also the establishment of a national base for cotton production.3) From 1995 to 2009,the main economic activities in Xinjiang were to enhance the unit yield together with enlarging the reclaimed area,the yield of food and cotton increased further to a large degree and unit yield of food was higher than the national average level,hence the biggest cotton producing area was set up with the total yield accounting for half of the whole nation.Although great achievements have been gained in land reclamation in Xinjiang in the past 60 years,yet ecological environment was seriously damaged and the existing cultivated land has reached the carrying capacity of the water resource.It is suggested no land reclamation should be done,but land conformity should be carried out,so as to raise the coefficient of net land use,and develop water-saving irrigation to enhance land productivity.