Changing trend of precipitation and its effects on crop productivity in the piedment of Taihang Mountain

Rainfall data from 1960 to 2005 was collected and analyzed to find the change trend and to estimate the crop water requirement. Field experiments were conducted at Luancheng Agro-ecology Experimental Station from 1996 to 2005 to calculate the soil water consumption. The results present 5.1mm/a rainfall decrease during last 46 years, especially in the summer maize growing periods. The water requirement of winter wheat is 2 times of that of summer maize. The field experiment shows that the crop yield is significantly related with rainfall in rain-fed area, and the crop yield does not varies obviously under water-saving irrigation. The rational irrigation should be taken in the future.