PROJECT ASSESSMENTS - Science for Agriculture and Rural Development in Low-income Countries - page 203

(both quality and quantity) in the Beijing Municipality. This gave information on the
agriculture - environment interactions and on the main impacts of agricultural
intensification. This showed for Beijing Municipality that

• Current water consumption is much higher than water supply and consequently

groundwater levels have strongly dropped;

• Arable land areas decreased rapidly due to conversion to urban areas;

• Grain cropping areas decreased rapidly and were converted to vegetable crop

areas;

• Fertilizer use per hectare increased strongly;

•

Total water use for irrigation decreased strongly;

• Livestock numbers increased rapidly, in particular cattle, sheep and poultry;

• Quality of surface waters has deteriorated; and

• Groundwater has severely been polluted.

In the second phase of the project, the first steps of a case study have been executed
on pressing issues in Beijing Municipality. These issues are in particular the
intensification of agricultural production (i.e., vegetable cropping with high fertilizer
use and increasing livestock intensity and production) and its impact on water
quality and the competitive demands (i.e., from agriculture and urban areas) on the
limited water resources. First, land use and agriculture in Shunyi district (outer suburb
of Beijing Municipality) were studied in a Rapid Diagnostic Appraisal (RDA).
Officials of government institutions in Shunyi were interviewed and during three
days a team of nine Chinese and Dutch researchers visited three townships in Shunyi
district and interviewed local leaders and farmers on farm structures, farming systems,
water-related issues and future developments. In addition, documentation and statistics
about land use development and agriculture in Shunyi have been collected, The resulting
RDA-report gives a general description of land and water use developments in
Shunyi and the major characteristics of the visited farms and agriculture in general.
Second, a farm management survey was implemented using the NUTMON metho-
dology. This survey included 25 farms of eleven different types in the Shunyi district.
Analysis of the survey data focused on farm typology, land use, livestock, agricultural
nutrient flows and management.
In the planned third phase of the case study, consequences of present and alter-
native future land use scenarios for agricultural production systems, water resources,
water quality, etc. would need to be analysed. Results of such an analysis may indicate
the need for changes in land use, water-saving, improved production technologies
and more environment-friendly agricultural production systems. For this case study,
a most interesting district of Beijing Municipality, Shunyi, was selected. This district
strongly shows at present the effects of intensification of agricultural production
systems (i.e., high livestock density, high level of fertilizer use) on environmental
quality.
In the final phase of the case study, most promising options for future develop-
ment as based on the case study analyses for Shunyi, and supportive policies will be
developed in close interaction with stakeholders. These analyses should indicate the