CSIRO and scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have teamed up in a multi-million dollar project to fight the major environmental threat of the 21st century: land and water degradation.

The scientists will work together to develop a Water Use Efficiency Indicator (WUEI). This will enable farmers in Australia and China to assess both agricultural performance and land depletion, and monitor the results of changes of management.

Two vast agricultural areas in China, the North China Plain and the Loess Plateau, are being extensively studied. At the same time, scientists from both countries are carrying out linked comparative research in areas of the Murray Darling Basin, and upland agricultural regions of South East Australia.

CSIRO Project Coordinator Dr David Jupp says that a primary integrating concept of the international study program is water use efficiency.

"The areas chosen for this study are of vital importance for food production in both China and Australia," says Dr Jupp. "They also have common problems: they are both suffering massive degradation through erosion and salinity, leading to a marked decrease in productivity.

"The use of the WUEI in this project will be based on very accurate computer models, locally calibrated to give the best possible assistance to farmers. The models will assess and predict water and solute balances, and water use by crops.

"WUEI is of real practical value to individual farmers, while providing invaluable information to catchment managers on the broader scale," said Dr Jupp.

This is a four-year project which will combine the skills of Australian and Chinese scientists in fields including satellite remote sensing, catchment hydrology, soil sciences, and computer modelling. Water use efficiency will be investigated and calibrated in irrigated and dryland farming systems, and land degradation will be included as a factor.

The project is jointly supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), CSIRO and CAS. It is the first project started under the recent agreement signed between ACIAR and CAS.

CSIRO signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the CAS in 1984, which has led to a number of exchange visits by scientists. Preliminary planning for the water and soil joint research project was begun in 1992. The WUEI project is one of eight current activities derived from the CSIRO-CAS exchanges.

More information from: Dr David Jupp 06-2167203 or Dr Ta-Yan Leong 06-2766444