preface 1 water and agriculture 1.1 water and drought 1.2 irrigation and agriculture 2 overview of water saving irrigation development 2.1 progress of water saving irrigation development 2.2 scientific and technical support to the development of water saving irrigation 2.3 water saving irrigation facilities and equipments 3 strategy on water saving irrigation development 3.1 general train of thought 3.2 the way forward toward water saving irrigation by regio 4 technical system and index of water saving irrigation 4.1 technical system of water saving irrigation 4.2 technical index of water saving irrigation 5 main measures of water saving irrigation 5.1 to rationally allocate and efficiently use irrigation water sources 5.2 to increase water conveyance and allocation efficiency 5.3 to increase water use efficiency of surface water irrigation 5.4 sprinkler irrigation 5.5 micro irrigation 5.6 dibble seeding and water injecting technology 5.7 agronomic water saving technologies and measures 5.8 management water saving technologies and measures 6 laws, regulatio and policies on water saving irrigation 6.1 laws and regulatio 6.2 policies for agricultural water coervation 6.3 technical standards on water saving irrigation 7 effects from water saving irrigation 7.1 increased irrigation water use efficiency 7.2 increased water productivity and overall agricultural production capacity 7.3 speeded up the traformation from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture 7.4 relieved the contradictio between water supply and water demand, improved the ecological environment in some areas 7.5 promoted the development of water saving irrigation equipment and facility industry 8 conclusio