Scientific Innovation Transforms Cangzhou's Saline-Alkali Fields into Fertile Land

CANGZHOU, China, April 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --  A once-barren field under saline-alkali stress is now teeming with life in Cangzhou in north China's Hebei province, thanks to measures to prioritize the comprehensive use of saline-alkali land, leverage the key role of scientific and technological innovation, expand the cultivation area of suitable crops and develop the intensive processing of farm products, according to Cangzhou municipal government.

The China National Standardization Management Committee officially approved Cangzhou the National Dryland Alkaline Wheat Agricultural Standardization Regional Service and Promotion Platform project with construction period of three years, the first of its kind nationwide, which covers the dryland alkaline winter wheat planting area in the low-lying plains around the Bohai Sea.

The unique natural conditions in Cangzhou have laid the foundation for the development of dryland alkaline wheat agriculture. Cangzhou experiences dry and less rainy winters and springs, with high levels of soil salinization and alkalization. Ordinary wheat struggles to grow in such an environment, but dryland alkaline wheat thrives. The cultivated area of saline-alkali land in Cangzhou is 4.1 million mu accounting for over 70 percent of the total saline-alkali land area in Hebei Province, indicating significant potential for comprehensive management and utilization.

Through repeated selection and improvement by local agricultural technicians, the yield of dryland alkaline wheat in Cangzhou has been increasing year by year. In 2023, the grain planting area in Cangzhou City reached 13.546 million mu, with a total output of 4.67 million tons, successfully completing the provincial grain production tasks. Among them, 1.547 million mu were planted with dryland alkaline wheat, exceeding the target of 1.5 million mu. The saline-alkali land, which used to yield nothing for nine out of ten years, has not only become fertile farmland but is also growing into a major granary in the Bohai Bay region.

Of particular note is that the grains of dryland alkaline wheat in Cangzhou are full and translucent, rich in calcium, potassium, iron, zinc, and other trace elements, with a protein content ranging from 13 percent to 16 percent (national standard is 12.2 percent).

Once completed, the project will establish core demonstration sites covering an area of over 1333 hectares, radiating and driving the standardized planting area of dryland alkaline wheat in saline-alkali coastal areas around the Bohai Sea, including Hebei, Shandong, and Tianjin, to reach 33,300 hectares.