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

Alterra Green World Research Institute, PO Box 47, 6700 AAWageningen, the Netherlands; joost.wolf{at}wur.nl

M S van Wijk

Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI), Wageningen University and Research Centre.

X Cheng

China Agricultural University/CAU, Beijing, PR China

Y Hu

Beijing Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences/BAAS, Beijing, PR China

C A van Diepen

Alterra

A W Jongbloed

Institute for Animal Science and Health, Wageningen UR, Lelystad, the Netherlands

H van Keulen

Plant Research International/PRI, Wageningen UR, Wageningen, the Netherlands

C H Lu

Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Beijing, PR China

R Roetter

Alterra

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.

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