China told to reduce food production or face 'dire' water levels

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

China needs to reduce food production on its dry northern plains or aquifers will diminish to a "dire" level in 30 years, one the country's leading groundwater experts has warned.

Zheng Chunmiao, director of the Water Research Centre at Peking University, said the world's most populous country will have to focus more on demand-side restraint because it is becoming more expensive and difficult to tap finite supplies below the surface.

"The government must adopt a new policy to reduce water consumption," Zheng told the Guardian. "The main thing is to reduce demand. We have relied too much on engineering projects, but the government realises this is not a long-term solution."

Zheng's comments are based on his studies of the aquifers under the North China plain, one of the country's main wheat growing regions. He said the water table is falling at the rate of about a metre a year mainly due to agriculture, which accounts for 60% of demand.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/28/china-food-water

[pscot]

1. The government has been encouraging irrigation

and subsidizing the price of wheat to make China self-sufficient. That doesn't seem to be working out.

[KamaAina]

2. They could try not growing crops for EXPORT

apples, for instance. Much of Chinese history (which I studied at Yale) has hinged on the delicate balance between China's huge and constantly growing population and its limited ability to feed itself. China has NEVER before been an exporter of food.

[BadtotheboneBob]

3. Sooner or later, but eventually...

... the concept of 'Lebensraum' will occur to the Chinese... and there's this vast mostly uninhabited region to their north called 'Siberia' that will tempt them. I'm fairly certain that the Russians have thought about this scenario with no little trepidation.

[aquart]

4. Siberia might be very green in a few years.

[cstanleytech]

5. Perhaps they should look at developing something for food that can grow

on their plains that doesnt require a great deal of water but yields a reasonable amount of food, perhaps a hybrid cactus?

[bloomington-lib]

6. I've been thinking for the last few years that the new future source

of food will come from insects. Maybe grasshoppers or mealworms. The require little food and water (relatively) to get them started and provide lots of nutrients and protein. Mashing them up and forming them into something that doesn't look like an insect will help the apprehension.

[BadtotheboneBob]

7. Then there's always...

Soylent Green...

[christx30]

8. Sadly,

with the Chinese government, I wouldn't put it past them.