Correlation between rainwater use and agriculture sustainable development of Loess Plateau of China

Rainfall is a main water resource of farming in Loess Plateau of China. The annual average precipitation (443 mm) is 2,757x10(9) m(3) which is about 9.2 times amount of annual surface water and groundwater used at present. Because of different distribution on time and space, easy loss and more changing of rainfall, soil and water loss and serious drought, rainwater use rate and the efficiency are very low. There are some advantages for collecting rainfall on Loess Plateau, and to develop rainwater harvesting agriculture is a key link between soil and water conservation and production. The history of rainwater harvesting is very long in Loess Plateau, also there are many ways, such as small reservoirs, dams, pools, well or cellars, and terraces separated by slope land, etc. The problem is these ways have not formed a system, and shortage of some key advanced technologies, such as materials for protecting from water loss in collecting, storing stages, and good methods of irrigation with high efficiency exists. Presently, the Chinese government has paid a great deal of attention to rainwater harvesting on agriculture sustainable development.