China's Grain for Green Program has reduced soil erosion in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the middle reaches of the Yellow River

Abstract

Severe soil erosion in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the middle reaches of the Yellow River is a serious environmental problem in western China. In order to control this soil erosion, the national government implemented the Grain for Green Program (GGP) in Sichuan Province (in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River) and Shaanxi Province (in the middle reaches of the Yellow River) in 1999. To evaluate the effects of the GGP on soil erosion, the present study investigated the relationships between annual precipitation and three parameters, annual runoff, sediment concentration, and sediment discharge, for these rivers. As the area covered by the GGP increased, sediment concentration and sediment discharge both decreased, and the correlation with the GGP area was much stronger than the correlation with annual precipitation. Therefore, China's GGP appears to be controlling soil erosion in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the middle reaches of the Yellow River.

Keywords:

• Grain for Green Program
• sediment
• soil erosion
• Yangtze River
• Yellow River

Acknowledgements

The study presented in this paper was financially supported by the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (SRFDP200807181008), the Major State Basic Research Development Projects of China (2007CB407203), and the Science Fund of Shaanxi Normal University for Young Scholars.