Home / Environment / Barren Land Blooms: Desert Transforms into Green Fields
Barren Land Blooms: Desert Transforms into Green Fields
3 Jun
Summary
- Infertile coastal land transformed into productive fields.
- A pilot program turned salt-crusted wasteland into arable land.
- Rice-wheat rotation system significantly improved soil quality.
Swaths of formerly infertile land in Dongying, Shandong province, have been transformed, with record harvests expected. A pilot program, approved in September 2022, aimed at comprehensively utilizing saline-alkali land and reserve arable resources. Dongying, at the Yellow River's mouth, was selected as the sole pilot city in Shandong.
The project team implemented strategies to improve soil quality and identify suitable crops. Measures included dividing land into small plots with managed irrigation and drainage, and incorporating crop stalks to boost organic matter. Soil salinity decreased, and organic content rose. Early crop trials like sorghum and corn failed, but rice, naturally tolerant to saline-alkali conditions and beneficial for soil improvement, proved successful.
A rice-wheat rotation system is now in use, reducing soil pH and increasing organic matter. This approach has added approximately 2,320 hectares of new arable land to Dongying. Shandong has developed seven treatment models for coastal saline-alkali land, with a specialized salt leaching and management model proving highly effective for wider application.
