THE PILOT

The Pilot is located in Hengshui city, in the Hebei Province of China covering an area of 48 hectares. Over‐exploitation of underground water has caused significant ecological and environmental impacts. Urgent measures to reduce the use of agricultural water were taken but the corresponding policies and recommendations remain to be investigated. The Pilot will introduce advanced strategies and technologies for more efficient water and fertilization management, soil quality improvement, and the social‐economic analyses and policy recommendations under different scenarios for the new agricultural practices.

  THE LEADERS 

The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences is the largest employer of scientific talent in agricultural science and technology in China consisting of 42 institutes distributed all over China with the responsibility of carrying out both basic and applied research as well as research into new technologies for agricultural innovation. CAAS is dedicated to overcoming a broad range of challenges impacting agricultural development and sustainability. The research infrastructure at CAAS is cutting edge and includes many important national key laboratories, centers and long-term experimental stations.
The Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture has a strong research background in soil and water resources management, the farming system on soil quality as well as the environmental and socio-economic impacts in different soil management scenarios for sustainable agricultural intensification. IESDA has two national research centers including the National Engineering Center for Crop Efficient Water Utilization and China-Japan Research Center for Agricultural Sustainability. IESDA also has six key research laboratories including the Key Laboratory of Dryland Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MOARA), Key Laboratory of Agricultural Environment, MOARA, and it is leading the research in agricultural resources and environment nationally.