Urban and peri-urban agricultural production in Beijing municipality and its impact on water quality

This paper reviews water use and water resource issues in Beijing Municipality, the main trends in the agricultural production systems in and around the city with respect to land use, input use, production and economic role, and the impacts of agricultural activities on water quality. Rapid urbaniza...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environment and urbanization 2003-10, Vol.15 (2), p.141-156
Main Authors: Wolf, J, van Wijk, M S, Cheng, X, Hu, Y, van Diepen, C A, Jongbloed, A W, van Keulen, H, Lu, C H, Roetter, R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural Production
Agronomy
Agrosystems
Alterra - Centrum Geo-informatie
ALTERRA Wageningen UR
Arable land
Beijing, Peoples Republic of China
Centre Geo-information
Crops
Economics
Farmlands
ID - Voeding
Land Use
Leerstoelgroep Plantaardige productiesystemen
LEI Internationaal Beleid
Marketing
Municipalities
Natural resources
PE&RC
Plant Production Systems
Plantaardige Productiesystemen
Pollution
PRI Agrosysteemkunde
Resource management
Urbanization
Wageningen Environmental Research
Water pollution
Water quality
Water Supply
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Summary:This paper reviews water use and water resource issues in Beijing Municipality, the main trends in the agricultural production systems in and around the city with respect to land use, input use, production and economic role, and the impacts of agricultural activities on water quality. Rapid urbanization and strong intensification of agricultural production have meant that the quantity and quality of available water resources have become matters of concern. The agricultural sector still has a major role in supplying the municipality’s population with food products, but it is also a major water user and has contributed to large gaps between water supply and demand and to high levels of water pollution. Among the main changes in agriculture in the last decade are the loss of arable land to urbanization, the rapid reduction in the area under grain, and the rapid increase in livestock numbers and in areas under vegetables and orchards. Intensive crop and vegetable production and intensive livestock rearing are major water polluters. The paper also points to some measures being taken to address these problems.
ISSN:0956-2478
1746-0301
DOI:10.1177/095624780301500205