Chinese Team To Turn 6.7 Mln Hectares Of Saline-alkali Land Into Paddies

SANYA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Jan, 2021 ) :The team of renowned agronomist Yuan Longping on Friday said they planned to plant saline-alkali soil rice to transform 6.7 million hectares of saline-alkali land in China over the next eight to 10 years.

The team led by Yuan, dubbed China's "father of hybrid rice," said they had already signed contracts to reclaim 400,000 hectares of saline-alkali land in China.

The announcement was made at a forum on saline-alkali soil rice held in the city of Sanya, south China's Hainan Province.

"In 2020, we made great strides in the breeding, cultivation techniques and soil improvement of saline-alkali tolerant rice. With joint efforts, we will no doubt achieve the goal of turning 100 million mu (6.7 million hectares) of saline-alkali soil into fertile land," the 90-year-old agronomist said in a video message at the forum.

Yuan's team successfully developed varieties of saline-alkali tolerant rice in 2017, with the highest average yield of over 800 kg per mu, or 12 tonnes per hectare, recorded in Jiangsu Province last year.

China has about 100 million hectares of saline-alkali soil, of which about one-fifth could be ameliorated to arable soil.

Despite years of bumper harvests, China is still in need of more arable land, said Mi Tiezhu, vice director of the Qingdao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center. China now feeds around 20 percent of the world's population with less than 9 percent of the world's arable land.

Mi said on average, the output of saline-alkali tolerant rice across all planting areas stood at more than six tonnes per hectare, which is economically viable for farmers.

"If the (saline-alkali) land can be used to grow rice and produce grain, it means that some acreage can be set aside for producing other cash crops," said Mi, also a member of Yuan's team. These efforts to increase food production will also benefit the global food supply and contribute to achieving the UN zero hunger goal, he said.