So far, multiple organizations and institutions, including the research center in Qingdao, Hybrid Rice Research Center in central China's Hunan Province, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences and China National Rice Research Institute, have jointly established a National Salt-Tolerant Rice Regional Trail Alliance in May 2017.

The alliance then set standards for the regional experiments of saline soil rice and lead the experiments. The organization is currently discussing saline soil rice's production standards.

"The establishment of the alliance facilitates the research and development of saline soil rice in China," said Peng Jiming, an official with the research center in Hunan, adding that the alliance also helped to attract over 20 enterprises and scientific research institutions to join the research and development of saline soil rice.

Experts said it is necessary to establish an authoritative organization to work out standards, collect the latest trends of saline soil rice studies and solve problems.

Chinese tech giant Huawei has also participated in the development of the saline soil rice. It has worked with the research center in Qingdao to develop a saline soil rice intelligent agricultural system based on technologies of the Internet of Things and big data.

The system is expected to make headway in the fourth quarter of this year.

The research and development of saline soil rice in China have drawn international attention. The Republic of Congo, Pakistan, India and Nigeria have expressed strong interest, while China will soon build up saline-alkali tolerant rice research and promotion centers in the Middle East and Africa.

Yuan Longping, known as the "father of hybrid rice," also urged the establishment of a national research and development center on saline-alkali tolerant rice and to make use of more saline-alkali land to increase rice yield.

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)