Chinese Scientists Discover High-Yield, Salt-Resistant Rice Variety with a Yield of Up to 21 Tons per 0.4 Hectares
>>> Brunei Tests 10 Rice Varieties from Vietnam
According to Xinhua News Agency, researchers from Hainan University have cultivated 18 different rice varieties in saline-alkali contaminated soil.
Illustrative Image: agrcorner.com
The experiments were conducted along the coastline of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province in eastern China. This research identified several rice varieties capable of thriving in both normal and harsh environments. Six years ago, scientists successfully introduced a salt-resistant gene from wild plants into conventional rice varieties and have since continued to improve and screen for 18 salt-resistant rice varieties.
In the Yangcheng area alone, approximately 2,024 hectares are affected by salinity and alkalinity each year, making these new rice varieties economically valuable and a partial solution to food security for the world’s most populous country.
UPI reports that China currently has 13.3 million hectares of saline-alkali land that holds agricultural potential.
Data from the Chinese Academy of Sciences indicates that this area represents about one-tenth of China’s total agricultural land. Wang Cailin, one of the lead scientists on this research project, stated that over a quarter of the world’s land is affected by salinity and alkalinity, with 20% of agricultural land at risk of further salinization.
