What are the planting conditions for seawater rice, which must be grown on saline-alkali land?
SummarySeawater rice needs to be planted on saline-alkali land. Its growth process does not require spraying pesticides, and its growing climate conditions are similar to those of rice. When planting, it needs to be irrigated with salt water at 6% salinity. It has drought resistance and waterlogging resistance, and can be planted on semi-desert inland saline soil, eastern coastal saline-alkali land, and saline-alkali land in the Songnen Plain of Northeast China.
I. Conditions for planting seawater rice
1. Seawater rice is suitable for planting on saline-alkali land, and there is a very vast area of saline-alkali land in China that can be used for planting rice. During the growth process, there is no need to spray pesticides, etc.
2. It can be planted in China's semi-desert inland saline soil, eastern coastal saline-alkali land, and saline-alkali land in the Songnen Plain of Northeast China.
3. The climate conditions for the growth of seawater rice are largely the same as those of rice, and it is easier to plant than rice.
4. Seawater rice does not grow directly in the sea, but is irrigated with salt water at 6% salinity when planted.
5. Its characteristics include relatively good drought resistance and waterlogging resistance, etc., and it does not need to grow in high-temperature and high-humidity soil.
II. Introduction to seawater rice
Seawater rice is actually a figurative name for salt-tolerant rice. It is a special type of rice that grows on saline-alkali land such as seaside tidal flats. Its growing place is not seawater or the sea, but it can be soaked in seawater for a short period. Seaside tidal flats are places that seawater must pass through, not the seawater itself.
There are 950 million hectares of saline-alkali land worldwide, of which Asia accounts for 320 million hectares. China has 1.5 billion mu of saline-alkali land, of which 280 million mu has already been developed and utilized. China can use these more than 200 million mu of saline-alkali land to plant seawater rice. Calculated at an expected yield of 200-300 kg per mu, this can increase its output by tens of billions of kg, which can feed about more than 200 million people.
As early as more than one hundred years ago, a large number of Korean refugees were already planting rice on the saline-alkali land of the coastal tidal flats in Panjin, Liaoning. Its truly large-scale, modern rice planting began with the “Yingtian Co., Ltd.” founded by General Zhang Xueliang in 1928.
In 1986, Chen Risheng began long-term research and promotion of it in Zhanjiang City, and Yuan Longping's participation in the research increased the degree of attention given to the related work.
In the autumn of 2016, the seawater rice trial-planted by Jiang Huilong in Hupu Town, Ningbo, had a highest yield of about 600 kg per mu and a lowest yield of about 500 kg.
In the autumn of 2017, the seawater rice of the Qingdao Seawater Rice Research and Development Center chaired by Yuan Longping had a highest yield of nearly 620.95 kg per mu.
In 2018, trial planting was carried out on a large scale across the country's five major types of saline-alkali land.
On July 22, 2018, more than 80 rice varieties trial-planted by Yuan Longping, including “seawater rice,” matured in batches, which was major good news for the Qingdao Seawater Rice Research and Development Center.