Agricultural Development In Qinhe River Basin In Qing Dynasty From The Perspective Of Environmental History

There is natural connection between agriculture and the environment,agriculture is based on natural reproduction of economic activity,its heavily dependent on the natural environment,as well as extensive and profound impact on the environment Across southeastern shanxi and henan northwest river dawen river basin,because of the different geographical position,its natural environment also differ,southeast shanxi is located at the edge of the loess plateau area,mountainous hill,downstream Huai Qing Fu flat,fertile soil,water source is adequate,conducive to agriculture development;In addition,the Qing government adopted an active agricultural policy and attached great importance to the development of local agricultural production,which provided a good agricultural environment for the development of agriculture in the Qinhe River Basin.Water conservancy construction improved the natural environment to some extent and was of great significance for agricultural development,The irrigation and drainage mode of multi-channel water diversion and multi-channel water transmission formed in the late Ming Dynasty in Qinhe River Basin was further improved in the Qing Dynasty Due to the differences in natural conditions,the water conservancy construction of the states and counties in the Qinhe River Basin presents different characteristics.The southeast of Shanxi Province has fewer water conservancy facilities and less irrigation area,while Huaiqing Prefecture has more complete water conservancy facilities and more extensive irrigation area.The combination of diversion canal irrigation and well sinking irrigation has formed a mature irrigation system.People are the main body of agricultural production.Under the attack of wars and disasters in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties,the population of Qinhe River Basin decreased greatly.The Qing government adopted positive measures such as tax exemption for exiles,which resulted in rapid population growth and laid a solid labor force foundation for agricultural development With the growth of population,the scale of land reclamation in Qinhe River Basin gradually expanded,and reached its peak during the reign of Emperor Kangxi.After Emperor Qianlong,land reclamation began to expand to the dizero areas,and the contradiction of more people and less land gradually emerged.At the same time,with the planting of exotic crops such as potato,sweet potato,corn and peanut,crop structure also showed a dynamic change.However,in the process of agricultural development,it also caused damage to the ecological environment to a certain extent.First of all,the reduction of vegetation coverage rate caused the aggravation of soil erosion and the thinning of the soil layer of large farmland.Secondly,soil sand alkalinization is serious,which makes it impossible to cultivate good farmland and reduces the plantable area.Thirdly,the decrease of forests and the shrinkage of animal and plant resources,especially the living space of tigers,have been continuously compressed and gradually retreated.Finally,frequent floods and droughts not only restrict the development of agriculture,but also increase the burden of the people and reduce the living standard of the people.