The engineering agriculture technique (EAT) has come into being based on the valuable experiences obtained by the Chinese during long term production practice in combination with the special needs of the use of ACL. The contents of EAT are detailed as follows.
1. Terraces changed from slops are the primal method to prevent the ACL and forested barren hills from soil erosion. Terraces can effectively prevent soil erosion, which has been proven by thousands of years of practice.
2. In areas where there is sufficient precipitation, the key is to set up perfect drainage systems to prevent nutrients in soil from being carried away by strong running water and eluviations in addition to the prevention of soil erosion. At the same time, the ability to control water supply should be developed to prevent droughts in the dry season.
3. In the dry areas where there is little precipitation, the focus should be to set up perfect water gathering systems to preserve the precipitation by using various methods so as to ensure the water supply for production and people ' s living. In the meantime, measures should be taken to prevent the salinization of soil due to excessive evaporation of water.
4. In small local areas, favorable circulating systems should be developed, i.e. material balance and favorable cycle of material streams should be realized in the autogenetic systems of the independent production – living quarters.