Current status, challenges, and opportunities for sustainable crop production in Xinjiang

Samenvatting

Xinjiang is China's largest cotton and grape production base, but faces challenges like water scarcity, overuse of fertilizer and mulching films, and low resource use efficiency. This review summarizes crop production in Xinjiang from 2000 to 2020, including geography, climate, sowing structure, yield variations, and barriers to sustainable management. Based on our review, we identify potential technical solutions (i.e., precise irrigation and fertilization, organic fertilizer substitution, mulching film management, and suitability evaluation of arable lands) and policy support (i.e., national plans, laws, and financial support) required to overcome these barriers. Overall, the sustainable transformation of crop production in Xinjiang is a challenging yet promising endeavor. Implementing judicious to make full use of water, heat, and nutrition resources have great potential for achieving the synergies between high yield, resource utilization efficiency, and environmental benefits. The findings also have global implications for other regions dominated by arid and oasis agriculture.