Abstract: The quota-area method was used to estimate water demands of agricultural crops in 31 counties of the Jinghe Watershed.Results show 1) the total water requirement of the crops in the Jinghe Watershed is 740 543.20×10⁴ m³,accounting for 41.58% of the total water requirement of the region;2) of the two major groups of crops,grain crops are higher than cash crops in water requirement quotas;and among specific crops,vegetables,melons,rice and cotton are higher and sunflower,potato and benne are lower than other crops;3) water requirement per hectare varies from county to county with the highest being 5 682 m³·hm^-2,in Jingyang County,and the lowest 4 022 m³·hm^-2 in Dingbian County,averaged to 4 583 m³·hm^-2,but the water requirement quota of a crop does not vary with the county,so calculation of water requirement quota of a county is closely related to its cropping structure;and 4) because of serious waste of water in farming,the actual water consumption in agriculture in the region is much higher than the calculated crop water requirement.Therefore,four strategies for reasonable utilization of the water and land resources in the Jinghe Watershed are put forth as follows: to readjust the cropping structure,to develop water-saving farming,to improve the quantification method for optimal allocation of agricultural water and soil resources, and to implement the policy of grain for green.

Key words: northwestern China, Jinghe Watershed, crop water requirement, analysis of water problem, countermeasure