1. BACKGROUND

Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region is located in the hinterland of the western part of China. Hilly loess areas dominate the southern part, the Yellow River Plain occupies the central and northern parts, while it adjoins the Alashan Plateau in the West and the eastern part is formed by the Ge’erduosi plateau. The total land area is 51 800 square kilometres and the population in 2001 was 5.63 million. The southern mountainous areas include the eight counties of Xiji, Haiyuan, Guyuan, Longde, Pengyang, Jingyuan, Yanchi and Tongxin with a total land area of 39 000 square kilometres and an arable land area of 867 000 hectares. The population of the eight counties is 2.4 million, of which 75 percent is engaged in agriculture. The per capita average income of farmers in 2001 was 1 078 RMB Yuan, which was lower than the national and regional average. It is one of the poorest regions in China. The annual precipitation is < 300 to 500 mm while soil erosion is a serious problem. The vegetation coverage is extremely low and there is a severe problem of water supply. Crop farming and livestock are the traditional industries and the pillar industries of the local economy. Since the infrastructure facilities for agriculture and livestock are little developed, agriculture is completely rainfed and the farmers and herders rely completely on the rainfall. Rapid population growth and demand for grains has caused uncontrolled land reclamation, extensive crop production and overgrazing and general deterioration of the ecological environment and poverty. Under present conditions agricultural development is no longer sustainable.

Ningxia is one of the autonomous regions and provinces to implement the Western Development Programme initiated and supported by the Chinese Government. One of the important measures is to strengthen the healthy development of the ecological environment, to return cropland to pasture and forest in order to improve the ecological environment and the basis for sustainable social and economic development. The Government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region realized that planting and development of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is an important strategic measure in improving the ecological environment of the region while raising the living standard of the rural population. It is also an effective measure to adjust agricultural structure, promote the development of livestock and help farmers and herders to shake off poverty. The economic return for alfalfa is significantly higher than that of wheat or corn. Planting alfalfa on slopes can also effectively control soil erosion and improve the ecological environment. Farmers and herders in these areas regard alfalfa as very important for their prosperity. Therefore, the Government of Ningxia lists the development of alfalfa as one of its most important agricultural development programmes. It is planned that, by 2010, the area of alfalfa in the southern mountainous areas of Ningxia will reach 300 000 hectares accounting for 34.6 percent of the total arable land area. By 2002, the acreage of alfalfa in these areas had reached 163 000 hectares while 272 000 households were engaged in the production of alfalfa. The statistics for 2002 indicated that the fresh alfalfa output reached 22 500 kg/hectare while the output value was 3 300 RMB Yuan/hectare. The net profit of each hectare of alfalfa was as much as 2,700 RMB Yuan and it was estimated that over 60 percent of local farmers and herders can increase their income through planting alfalfa.

However, although the large-scale production of alfalfa has brought about certain economic returns and ecological effects, the substantial increase and expansion of the same crop over a large area has also created major problems in terms of various serious outbreaks of pests and diseases of alfalfa. The damage caused by pests has increased year by year. The rapid and severe pest and disease occurrence affecting large areas of alfalfa caught farmers and herders by surprise and since they lacked pest control techniques and means, great losses have been caused. Over 80 percent of the fields lost over 50 percent of the normal production while 10 percent of the land failed to produce any harvest; over 130 000 households were affected.

The main reasons for such rampant disease and pest breakouts are:

• policy measures which in the past encouraged grain production whereas alfalfa was planted as a minor fodder crop in the rotation. As the area of alfalfa was very limited there were few pests and diseases and no control measures were needed and, consequently, farmers had little technical knowledge in alfalfa management;
• the area of alfalfa in recent years has expanded considerably following the Government’s western development strategies, while the development of alfalfa varieties has lagged far behind. At present, over 95 percent of the southern mountainous areas in Ningxia use the few traditional local varieties, which are relatively low producers with poor disease resistance;
• farmers and herders generally lack practical crop management techniques, with little awareness of improved alfalfa varieties, the need for crop rotations, soil fertility management and proper harvesting times;
• as well as the overall lack of technical knowledge the capacity for pest monitoring and forecasting is weak and there is little timely provision of information on pest control and technicians are unable to guide farmers and herders in adopting good agricultural practices, including appropriate preventative and integrated pest control measures.

In the absence of good agronomic techniques and a wider alfalfa genetic base, the response in many cases has been to control pests with highly toxic pesticides, often applied at the wrong time and which not only failed to control the pest problems, but also caused farmer and herder health problems as well as serious environmental pollution. There is therefore an urgent need to address these issues by focusing firstly on widening the alfalfa genetic base through the introduction, selection, testing and use of disease resistant varieties that are adapted to the harsh rainfed conditions in these semi-arid areas and also through the local, participatory adaptation of improved agronomic techniques. Also important are the role of appropriate agronomic practices such as cutting frequency and calendar, sward renovation, cereal/alfalfa rotations, and nutrient management. To obtain a sustainable intensification of cropping systems a combination of improved management practices and the right genetic base of crops must be adopted. Pest problems arising from large-scale cultivation of one crop (alfalfa) can also be addressed through integrated pest management measures with biological control as a focal point plus monitoring and forecast systems for alfalfa pests to guide the farmers in appropriate and timely control measures.  This project therefore addresses the basic need of crop intensification promoting the introduction of suited alfalfa varieties and improved agronomic techniques to increase production of hay and cereals while minimizing pest and disease losses.

Failure to resolve the problem will not only seriously affect the many farmers and herders and the developing alfalfa industry, but will have grave consequences for the implementation of the state’s western development strategy in the southern mountainous areas of Ningxia – returning cropland to forest and grassland.

It is likely that the project will be implemented in two counties - Yanchi and Pengyang, while the other 6 counties and districts of Xiji, Haiyuan, Longde, Pengyang, Jingyuan, Tongxi and Yuanzhou will indirectly benefit from the project.

Expected benefits of the project are:

• increased returns to farmers through the introduction of improved agronomic practices;
• a more sustainable alfalfa industry through the introduction of improved alfalfa varieties;
• reduced alfalfa losses from pests and diseases and less environmental damage resulting from the local participatory adaptation of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) technologies;
• acceleration of the programme to return cropland to grassland and forest and so promote sustainable agricultural and livestock development in the southern mountainous areas of Ningxia.

2. OBJECTIVES

The main objectives of the project are:

• increased awareness of the benefits of improved agronomic practices for alfalfa production;
• identification of alfalfa varieties well adapted to the agro-ecological conditions in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region;
• basic seed production assured of the selected alfalfa varieties and seed multiplication organized to satisfy the needs of the farming industry;
• improved alfalfa establishment and management practices, including broader varietal choice, soil fertility management, appropriate crop rotations, and IPM approaches, introduced and locally adapted with farmers’ groups to promote sustainable agriculture systems;
• farmers’ field schools (FFS) established with better alfalfa varieties and crop establishment and management practices;
• local technicians, researchers and farmers trained in improved alfalfa establishment and management through participatory adaptive research;
• formulation of a medium-term programme with time-bound objectives for sustainable alfalfa production in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

3. OUTPUTS

The project outputs are expected to be:

• present status of alfalfa production ascertained and various agronomic, pest and disease problems identified;
• appropriate alfalfa varieties identified and field tested in the project area;
• seed production and multiplication facilities of the selected alfalfa varieties in place and seed supplies to farmers assured;
• technology packages for sustainable alfalfa production developed;
• at least 50 researchers and technicians trained in improved alfalfa management practices and production, varietal choice, cropping systems, soil fertility, and IPM techniques, using the farmers’ field schools approach;
• at least 500 farmers trained on appropriate alfalfa establishment and management practices and local community research plots and farmers’ field schools in place;
• a training manual on improved alfalfa establishment and management practices (in Chinese and English);
• a medium-term plan developed with participation by farmers’ communities and approved by local authorities for sustainable alfalfa production in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. 

First missions were fielded in September 2007 when the detailed workplan was prepared.

5. RESULTS and CONCLUSIONS

The project will be implemented in the period September 2007 to September 2009 and results and conclusions will be added in due course.