Saline-alkali soil rice provides hope for global food security

JINAN: Yield estimates of saline-alkali soil rice conducted last Friday at three plantation bases across China point to high yield levels.
The largest such base, located in the city of Weifang, east China’s Shandong Province, has an annual yield of 625.3 kg per mu, or nearly 9.38 tonnes per hectare, according to estimates of experts.
The rice breed at the base in Qingdao, Shandong Province, has an estimated yield of 11.1 tonnes per hectare, while the rice breed at the base in the city of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, has an estimated yield of 4.81 tonnes per hectare.
“We planted 1,000 mu of saline-alkali soil rice last year. We increased the acreage to 50,000 mu this year,” said Tian Guoqing, general manager of Shandong Binyuan Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd., which is in charge of operations at the Weifang base.
“We will double the acreage to 100,000 mu next year,” said Tian. –Agencies