Cutting-edge technology transforms barren land in northwest China's Ningxia into lush fields

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chinese agricultural experts have used big data and gene technology in breeding to revitalize the vast stretches of saline-alkaline farmland in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region to boost yields and ensure national food security.

China has managed to feed one fifth of the world's population with less than 9 percent of the world's arable land. With an annual grain output of more than 650 million tons, China has become one of the world's largest food producers and exporters. The country is still exploring ways to increase yields.

At an agricultural base in Ningxia's Shizuishan City, the lush sorghum field used to be a barren land covered with a layer of salt crust. The soil was too harsh even for the toughest crops to grow until two years ago – when scientists discovered a way of transforming the waste land through cutting-edge agricultural technology and comprehensive soil improvement.

An expert team led by chief rice scientist Xie Qi from Syngenta Group China began their research in Shizuishan two years ago, planting a trial species in the saline-alkaline soils in hope of providing a solution to food security challenges.

"By means of genomics and big data, we discovered a gene called AT1, which is associated with alkaline tolerance in crops. We found it in sorghum. We applied this technology to rice, corn, millet and wheat, and they all achieved the same yield increase in saline-alkaline farmland," Xie said.

This is the first time in the world that saline alkaline tolerance genes have been discovered in crops. According to this breakthrough finding, the research team has cultivated sorghum varieties based on AT1 technology and carried out production planting in Dawukou, Ningxia. 

The yield of the test field has exceeded 4,500 kilograms per hectare, which is beyond Xie's expectation.

"We're certainly very delighted that the research we made and the varieties we bred mean contributions to society and grain production. Some 500 million mu (about 33 million hectares) of saline alkaline land in China has the possibility of utilization. [If we can make use of] this 500 million mu of land, plus China's 1.8 billion mu [of arable land], the country's food production will definitely grow," Xie said.

China has about 1.5 billion mu (100 million hectares) of saline-alkaline land, which is one tenth of the total such land in the world. President Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of comprehensive management of these land during his inspection in Ningxia in June.

Besides planting more resilient crops, experts in Shizuishan have also made exploration for restoring the arid soils by means of scientific approaches.

"Through two years of comprehensive treatment, the current seeding emergence rate of those fields that once did not grow grain has reached 66 percent, and more than 600 mu (40 hectares) of them has reached almost the level of normal farmland. The yield of more than 4,000 mu of crops-growing farmland here has increased," said Yang Jinguang, general manager of Northwest China Region of Sinochem Modern Agriculture.

The modern agricultural project in Shizuishan has proven to be commercially feasible, with a complete supply chain for several downstream industries. A local distillery has already placed an order for sorghum this year, while corn silage is harvested and processed for animal feed.

Yang said that in the coming years, the project will tap into more desolate soils in China's great northwest and unleash their potential.

Cutting-edge technology transforms barren land in northwest China's Ningxia into lush fields

Conservation efforts and information sharing between China and Vietnam are helping to protect the eastern black crested gibbons, one of the rarest and most critically endangered primates in the world, for future generations.

Deep in the jungles of northern Vietnam lies the Trung Khanh Cao Vit Gibbon Species and Habitat Conservation Area bordering China. That is where Asia's last black crested gibbons or Cao Vit gibbons as they are known in Vietnam, roam.

"Gibbons can just cross over. For example, they might be in Vietnam in the morning and sleep in China at night, then return to Vietnam the next day. This is a normal occurrence," said Hua Van Trụ, a member of a Vietnamese gibbons conservation team.

The elusive tree-dwelling primate was believed to be extinct, but their rediscovery in the 2000s ignited cross-border conservation efforts between China and Vietnam to save the species from extinction.

"To protect this gibbon species, we have to continuously exchange information, collaborate and have frequent cross-border conservation activities," said Hoang Van Duong, head of Trung Khanh's forest ranger station.

Kilometers away on the Vietnamese side of the border, a team of men in charge of their continued survival ventured into this wild terrain.

"Our department has increased the frequency of patrol activities with a focus on preventing any illegal trapping and capturing of the gibbons. There aren't many of them left. Within this 2,000-hectare area, there are only 74 of them. That's why we must undertake these actions together to try our best to prevent them from going extinct," said Hoang.

The cooperation team of five is made up of members of Fauna and Flora International, or FFI's gibbons conservation team and Trung Khanh's forest rangers. They will make an overnight trek to reach an observation point where they hope to spot an elusive troop they have been tracking for months.

The team will only observe them from afar, for fear of startling the troop. Here, patience and silence are their greatest tools. The team's efforts finally pay off.

"Based on the observations we have made of this group over the last five months, there are now nine individuals in this troop," said Hua.

Hua continued to watch them. Every sighting is a victory, a reminder of the importance of their work. He recorded the sightings in a shared platform with his Chinese counterparts.

"We frequently share reports (with our Chinese counterparts) about poaching activities, waste from border crossers, and information about the gibbons. For example, if we see gibbons near the border, we'll quickly exchange updates," said Hua.

"As a forest ranger being assigned to manage and protect this conservation area, I feel very fortunate. This is also a source of pride that motivates me to play a part in nature conservation," said Hoang Duc Tuan, forest ranger of the Cao-Vit Gibbon Species and Habitat Conservation Area.

The work these conservationists do is about more than protecting a species. Their work is a symbol of the amazing positive impact that can be made on a global scale when countries work together for a common cause.

China-Vietnam conservation efforts save eastern black crested gibbons from extinction