Abstract: Drought and water deprivation is one of the problems in the whole world and it is also a problem of overall importance in agriculture of China. Based on the research of regional planning of upland agriculture in north China of the 6th Five-Year Plan, the comprehensive research, development and demonstration engineering in dry areas of north China are placed on national key scientific and technological plan during the periods of the 7th, 8th, and 9th Five-Year Plan. Directed by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and coordinated by The Northwest University for A & F Science and Technology and China Agricultural University, participated by the institutes of CAAS concerned and a part of provincial academies of agricultural sciences, agricultural colleges and universities and institutes of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) concerned, through coordinated studies of the periods of 3 Five-Year Plans, a great progress and tremendous breakthrough have been made in scientific research and development of dry areas of north China. Scientific achievement transfer and popularization promoted the sustainable and stable development of agriculture and economic development in dry areas of north China. In the meantime, the research also greatly enriched the scientific theory and practice of agriculture in dry areas of north China, thus preliminarily forming the dry agricultural technology system with Chinese characteristics.

Key words: Dry areas in North China , Comprehensive research , Demonstration engineering