Soil Erosion Control and Damland System Agriculture in Weijiayu Watershed

Weijiayu watershed is situated in Xixian county Shanxi province, which is on the third tributary of the Yellow River and is a part of the broken Loess Plateau region, with an area of 90.9 km2, a soil erosion modulus of 8,000-10,000 t/km2 per year, and annual sediment discharge of 156,000 t. The watershed was listed as the focal point of controlling in middle reaches of the Yellow River from 1983 to 1987, and has also been considered as a soil and water conservation loan item of the Word Bank since 1993. Through decades of management, land use has been changed significantly, and damland system basically formed. This paper analyzes the relation between soil erosion control and damland agriculture development. Also discussed are many problems such as cropping structure, yields and construction layout of the valley damland. Damland construction is not only an efficient way of watershed management and soil erosion control in Loess Plateau, but also an important measure for the Avise use of silt resources, as well as construction of basic farmland. This ensures high and stable yields despite drought or excessive rain, providing an important food resource while gradually returning slope farmland to forest. This will contribute much to significantly improve the ecological environment in the Loess Plateau.