Water Efficient Alternative Crops for Sustainable Agriculture along the Tarim Basin: A Comparison of the Economic Potentials of Apocynum pictum, Chinese Red Date and Cotton in Xinjiang, China

Abstract

This study explores a paradigm of sustainable land use in the oases along the Tarim River of northwest China, where a fragile, semi-arid riparian ecosystem is being damaged by excessive land and water use for agriculture, especially for the growing of cotton. The reliance of agriculture on water-demanding cash crops in this region poses a grave threat to survival of the natural Tugai vegetation in the area and to the long-term sustainability of the region. We explored the hypothesis that the species Apocynum pictum (A. pictum), known as Lop-Kendir by locals, and the Chinese red date (Zyzyphus jujube) may act as sustainable crop substitutes for the region, thereby replacing the widely distributed cash crop of cotton that has high water demands. Therefore, we investigated current utilization and cost-revenue structure of these two alternative plants and compared the results to cotton. Three natural resource management types of A. pictum were both identified in the wild and cultivation, with cost-revenue analysis carried out for each. The results show that all three types of institutional arrangements of natural resources, which are namely open access, ranching and farming, were present in our study and at various levels for A. pictum. A. pictum farming costs 16,250.25 yuan/ha, generates 49,014.45 yuan/ha of revenue from raw materials and brings a profit of 32,764.2 yuan/ha, which is the highest of all three cash crops compared. The Chinese government encourages Chinese red date plantations with a "Grain for green" campaign in the Tarim Basin with this plant being more profitable than cotton, which could serve to diversify the region's agriculture. We conclude that A. pictum offers opportunities for the restoration of vegetation in riparian ecosystems on salinized sites under the arid conditions of the Tarim Basin. Furthermore, it can serve as a viable land-use alternative to cotton for cash crop agriculture, as it may generate a certain income in the form of tea and fibers as well as fodder for livestock.

Storage Period and Different Abiotic Factors Regulate Seed Germination of Two Apocynum Species — Cash Crops in Arid Saline Regions in the Northwestern China

“…Some aspects of ecology, biology, and utilization in A. venetum and A. pictum have been extensively studied (Thevs et al, 2012;Rouzi et al, 2018;Jiang et al, 2019; Li et al, 2020), yet our data are the first to study the simultaneous effects of storage period and various abiotic factors on germination of both species. The germination niches of A. venetum and A. pictum are highly dependent on storage period, temperature regime, drought, and salinity.…”

“…Apocynum venetum and Apocynum pictum are perennial halophytic herbs belonging to the Apocynaceae family (Thevs et al, 2012;Xie et al, 2012). Cultivation of both species can provide significant environmental benefits by preventing land degradation caused by salinization and desertification and offer opportunities to develop desert farming in the arid zones (Ping et al, 2014;Rouzi et al, 2018).…”

Trading Natural Riparian Forests for Urban Shelterbelt Plantations—A Sustainability Assessment of the Kökyar Protection Forest in NW China

“…(B) In the absence of an effective central regulation of the catchment area, the local government of Aksu could locally counterbalance the Kökyar water consumption by taking other agricultural areas with less side benefits, e.g., cotton plantations, out of irrigation in an amount that compensates the Kökyar water consumption. (C) A similar effect could be achieved by substituting cotton by the cultivation of locally adapted more water efficient crops, such as jujube (Ziziphus jujuba) as an orchard tree, and dogbane (Apocynum pictum) as a fibre plant [66,67].…”

Tree Mortality and Regeneration in Euphrates Poplar Riparian Forests Along the Tarim River, Northwest China

“…The region is an extremely arid warm temperate zone, with an annual mean precipitation of 75 mm and an annual mean temperature of 11.05 °C. The annual potential evapotranspiration ranges from 2500 to 3500 mm (Rouzi et al 2018). The forest structure and composition in the study area is relatively simple, and the local flora is mainly composed of P. euphratica, Tamarix ramosissima and Phragmites australis (Table 1).…”