Loess Plateau Watershed Rehabilitation Project

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The primary objective of the Loess Plateau Watershed Rehabilitation Project is to increase agricultural production and incomes on 15,600 km2 of land in the Loess Plateau in tributary watershed of the Yellow River. A secondary objective, which is to reduce sediment inflows to the Yellow River, will be achieved by locating the project areas in the parts of the Basin with severe soil erosion. The project will (a) create sustainable crop production on high-yielding level farmland and thereby replace the areas devoted to crops on erodible slope lands, (b) plant the slope lands to a range of trees, shrubs an grasses for the land stabilization and production of much-needed fuel, timber and fodder; and (c) substantially reduce sediment runoff from slope lands and gullies in the nine watersheds through the construction of sediment retention dams.