Alberta’s water policies could set the example for China according to University of Alberta graduate student and Syngenta Scholarship in Sustainable Agriculture winner Yi Joey Zuo.

She is examining agricultural water policies in Alberta, Australia and Africa with the hopes of providing recommendations to China on how their water policy can promote equitable and sustainable water use.

“China currently uses a water policy based on uniform regional pricing, but this is not consistently applied in all provinces,” says the Economics graduate student. “I would like to bring forward the most effective elements from these other countries to make policy recommendations to the Chinese government.”

China’s environmental ministry intends to introduce a more uniform policy by 2010 that will set the stage for an equitable conservation mandate in the years to come. This policy will affect agriculture regions as well as urban, making water conservation key to successful food production.

Joey is using data from the Scientific Institute of China, which surveyed agricultural water use in three northern China provinces in 2004 and 2005. The survey specifically looked at the socio-economic variables, such as income, to water usage and water pricing.

She will compare this data to optimal water needs in several irrigated Chinese crops. “Understanding the effect both cost and amount of water has on yield and profit in these crops will help optimize this valuable resource,” she says.

Joey predicts her recommendations will be different for northern China, where farms are large and run as cooperatives, from southern China, which are typically much smaller family-run operations.

“With research and improved production practices, we can create sustainable solutions for our future farming generations,” says Jay Bradshaw, President of Syngenta Crop Protection Canada, Inc. “We are pleased to partner with universities and students through the Syngenta Scholarships in Sustainable Agriculture on research that will help share research into water conservation around the world.”

Scholarships in Sustainable Agriculture are a component of the Syngenta Giving Back to Agriculture Program. Graduate Scholarships at Canada’s major agricultural universities demonstrates how the Syngenta Scholarship Program is promoting innovation in agriculture. To find out more about the Giving Back Program, visit www.syngenta.ca.

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