Study On Sustainable Development Of Minor Crops Production In The Loess Plateau Of China

The Loess Plateau is one of the most important agriculture birth place in China with very long farming history. The climate in this region is typical continental arid, semi-arid and monsoon one with an average annual precipitation of 250-600mm. Since the rainfall is limited in amount, uneven in seasonal distribution, strongly changeable among years, and water and soil erosion is serious, drought has been the most serious nature disaster in the region, and often affects its agriculture sustainable developments. In a long period of time, planting drought-enduring crops is the intrinsic measure in rain fed area, so it's important ways for realizing agriculture and agro-economy sustainable development to select crops adapting to resources and circumstances, and to fully exploit crops' rainfall productive potential in rain fed area.Depending on their drought-resistant, poor soil-enduring features and stronger adaptability, the minor crops play a very important role in dry farming of the Loess Plateau from ancient times, and can't be lack up to now. And due to their higher nutrition and medicinal value, they are traditional raw material crops for health care foods in our country. Therefore, they are highly competitive in the markets at home and abroad, and contain huge economic benefits. Also, the minor crops are the main components in vegetation of the Loess Plateau and have important historic and practical significance for the water and soil erosion control in the region. So seizing the historical moment of strategic adjustment of agricultural structure in our country, conforming to the trend of market economy development, it will be the long-term strategic selection for agriculture of our country to develop the minor crops production in the light of local conditions, improve their productivity, and to realize characteristic agriculture industrialization.The paper is divided into 8 chapters. Chapter one is the introduction, which points out the important role of minor crops production in rain fed areas of the Loess Plateau, which reveals its development prospects and trends, which clearly makes the research orientation of the minor crops, and put forward the basic train of thought of the research based on the discussions of the important strategic status of dry farming in Loess Plateau rain fed area and understanding the trends that the rain fed area becomes enlarged and the droughtbecomes exacerbated. Chapter two analyses the minor crops production situation in Loess Plateau rain fed area according to different crops in provinces and regions, divides minor crops production into sub-areas according to the actual conditions and discusses productive and distributing characteristics of different areas. Chapter three analyses the eco-environment of the Loess Plateau, points out that adaptability to drought should be the main evaluation index of ecological adaptability of dry-land crops, and makes an evaluation on the drought adaptability of the main minor crops. Chapter four mainly reveals the exploitation degree of the productive potential of the minor crops , which based on the systematic studies the heat productive potential, and rainfall productive potential of the main minor crops in the hilly Loess region of the north Shaanxi according to the results of field experiments. Chapter five reveals the inevitability of exploiting and improving the rainfall productive potential of the minor crops, searches the main restrictive factors of rainfall productive potential, makes a quantitative studies of improvement actions of installation cultivate techniques to the rainfall productive potential, and establishes relevant technical methods. Chapter six analyses the competitiveness of the minor crops in the market, reveals its industrialization development prospects and puts forward the strategic countermeasures in accordance with the actual situation. Chapter seven defines the concept and connotation of sustainable development of the minor crops production and establishes technique system to realize it, also put forw...