Written by: Lu Peifa
Posted on: June 26, 2018 | 
| 中文
Chen Risheng's observation of Sea Rice grain growth
According to the information released by the Hainan Breeding Base of Qingdao Sea-water Rice Research Centre in China on 8th April, 2018, 176 good varieties of sea-water rice have been selected from a base of almost one thousand species, and are ready to be planted as an experiment across the country for the first time.
The five trial plantations include the frozen and saline lands of Suda in Northeast China, the arid and semi-arid lands in Xinjiang, the Yellow River Delta Area of Dongying of Shandong, and the seaside saline lands of Qingdao (Shandong). The experiment’s target is to test the final output and quality of these seeds under different geographical and climatic conditions,and the scientists have been able to discover at least one species that is strong and good enough for national wider application that could get past the national inspection successfully.
The technical team led by Professor Yuan Longping, an academic from Chinese Engineering Academy, who is praised by the Chinese as the “Father of Hybrid Rice,” announced the experimental results of their latest group of sea-water rice species planted at the Qingdao Sea-water Rice Research and Development Centre (Qingdao Rice Centre for short). The results were staggering as the highest per mu (about 0.067 ha.) yield amounted to 620.95 kilograms.
“If the trails could be successfully introduced in different places, it would indicate that our technologies on sea-water rice are mature enough, and hundreds of millions of saline-alkaline lands of China could be turned into fertile farmlands very soon,” said Zhang Guodong, deputy director of the Qingdao Sea-water Rice R&D Center.
Chen Risheng: Thirty Years of Promotion of Sea-water Rice in Zhanjiang City
Two names will be remembered forever in the birth of sea-water rice in China: Chen Risheng and Yuan Longping. As a matter of fact, the sea-water rice is not irrigated by sea water, as the name suggests, but is irrigated in sea-water soaked lands, i.e. saline and alkaline lands, for a short term. The rice itself can resist sea-water soaking, but it is the land where its growth differs from common rice, hence earning it its name.
The technological preparation for saline-resistant rice cultivation actually started in the 1970s, when the International Rice Research Institute sorted out 10 species from a data base of 9000, which could withstand the saline lands, and later on in 1979 brought out the standard methods for saline-resistant rice accreditation. Soon, countries like Pakistan, Japan, America, UK and Australia all carried out research on saline-resistant rice in succession.
Mr. Chen Risheng, praised as the “Father of Sea-water Rice of China,” discovered one rice species which was higher than man, and looked like a reed but with seedlings. This species was located along the seaside of Yancao village, Chengyue Township of Suixi County. It was in 1986, when Chen followed his teacher, Professor Luo Wenlie, who used to conduct mangrove forests resources investigation in Zhan Jiang of Guangdong Province of China, and found out that the seedlings of this plant had a one-inch long burr at the tip and the seeds took the shape of both rice and wheat after being peeled out. As urged by professor Luo, Chen carefully collected 522 seeds of the plant for later cultivation, which are the primary seeds of today’s sea-water rice. Since then, Chen and his team started the work of protecting this plant that they came across by accident and carried out reproduction and selection every year. Now, they have finally managed to breed the Sea-water Rice No. 86.
Experts believe the sea-water rice has at least three advantages; firstly it can adapt to semi-salty water for irrigation, which saves fresh water resources. Secondly, salty water has more microelements therefore sea-water rice contains more minerals than ordinary rice. Finally, sea-water rice grows in a relatively hard environment, which makes it difficult for pests to survive, hence there is lesser need for the use of pesticides and the rice is naturally green and organic.
Sea-water rice is carmine red in color, indicating that it contains a high quantity of selenium, 7.2 times higher than ordinary rice, as introduced by Li Xinlan, a member of Food Safety Assessment Commission of China Health Care Association.
As the test results issued by the authoritative agency show, Sea-water No. 86 rice has 4.71 times more amino acids than common fine white rice, which results in a higher nutritious value. The favorable and unique features of sea-water rice, such as fertilizer-free, anti-pests, saline and alkali-soil resistance, indicate that it has great significance in green and resource-saving agriculture development.
Chen Risheng has been working in the research and promotion of sea-water rice for 30 years in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, but he got frustrated with the difficulty of improving the per mu yield, which earned wider attention after Yuan Longping joined the team.
On October 14th, 2016, the Qingdao Rice Centre was established at the Academician Harbor, Licang District of Qingdao City, with 30 mu of plantation base north of Jiaozhou Bay. The Centre had participation of a famous academician Yuan, and an initial fund of 100 million Yuan.
Yuan Longping: Major Breakthrough of Sea-water Rice Plantation Achieved at Qingdao
In the golden autumn, by the side of the Yellow Sea, one piece of land soaked in salty water witnessed its harvest of rice with heavy seedlings, which was the latest production of sea-water rice cultivated by a team led by Yuan Longping at Qingdao Sea-water Rice Centre.
“Actually, the sea-water rice itself is not fresh and new. It is the high-yield and strong saline-resistant sea-water rice that matters for the rare species,” said Wang Kexiang, division chief of the Qingdao Rice Centre. The tolerance level of salinity of general rice is lower than 3% and several wild rice resources can grow in soils, with a salinity percentage between 3% and 12%, at areas with semi-salty waters in and outside of China. However, all of them have inferior and low outputs, poor quality and leaf morphology. Related technological problems of present species have remained unsolved, and have lead to the failure of extensive promotion.
Professor Yuan Longping said that the most of the present species were half wide, with only 100 kilograms of per mu yield, which is insufficient to cover the costs for farmers. If the yield of per mu was over 300 kilograms, it would then be economical for farmers to grow with higher incentives and willingness.
A joint assessment seminar was held by the National Hybrid Rice Engineering Technology Research Centre, Shangdong Province Rice Research Institute, Qingdao Agricultural Science Research Institute on Sep 28th, 2017 in Qingdao City on saline and alkali resistant rice, and saline and alkali soil improvement technologies. A detailed assessment was carried out on the technical achievement of production volume improvements of sea-water rice.
“Among all species that were involved in the assessment, the highest one had reached a per mu yield of 620.95 kilograms, much higher than the target of 300 kilograms!” announced Liu Shiping, professor of Yangzhou University and head of the output measurement group, after careful procedures of species selection and confirmation, harvesting and data collection. The result aroused great applause among those present on the occasion. The figure indicated that China had made a major breakthrough in sea-water rice research and development.
Professor Yuan Longping, almost in his nineties, watched the real-test result through an online live broadcast in Hunan Province and told colleagues at the site with excitement, “This is a great achievement. If it were to be judged in terms of ‘excellent, medium and poor,’ I would say that this is excellent.”
According to Zhang Guodong, executive deputy director of Qingdao Rice Centre, this round of trial plantation has witnessed several technical breakthroughs, and the best of them was the realization of 6% salty water direct irrigation and great-scale of output improvement. The figure of 620 kilograms per mu has exceeded the maximum output of all known species in the present time irrigated by 6% salty water.
Future Plan: One Hundred Million Mu of High-yield Sea-water Rice to be planted in Five Year’s Time
At the headquarters of Qingdao Rice Centre, there is a big distribution map of saline and alkali lands in China, hanging on the wall of the first floor of No. 16 building, which displays that there are saline and alkali lands from south to north and east to west of China in various degrees of salinity. The growing of sea-water rice would not only improve the saline lands, but also increase the grain output, making great contributions to the grain safety of China and the world as well.
Yuan Longping introduced that there are 14.25 billion mus of saline lands in the world, of which 4.8 billion are in Asia, taking up more than one-third of the world salty soils. While China has 1.5 billion saline lands, only 0.3 billion of them can be developed and utilized. If they can be planted with sea-water rice, the potentiality of grain output increase would be as broad as it had been proved by the trial plantation.
A national seaside saline lands improvement project has been launched recently in Qingdao city, with the first phase of 1500 mu of sea-water rice plantation, and demonstration centre undergoing construction. As introduced in the plan, after full implementation, the salinity of local soils would change completely, turning the barren salty soils to fertile lands, upon which all major grains other than vegetables could be grown.
The first overseas project, “Green Dubai,” which Qingdao Rice Centre carried out, was officially initiated in Dubai last January. It aimed for a new agricultural development model, with digitalized and artificial desert oasis, application of saline land improvement and sea-water rice plantation technologies.
The project was undertaken by the team led by Professor Yuan Longping and in the next phase, they plan to expand their industrial promotion of sea-water rice plantation and saline lands improvement in Daqing of Heilongjiang Province of east China, Kashi and Hotan Prefectures of Xinjaing, and Baicheng of Jilin Province and Dubai.
However, the goal of Professor Yuan Longping and his team goes far beyond addressing grain safety, and they have created an ambitious two-step plan. The first step is to take three years time and make the present selected species strong enough to tolerate over 6% of salty water irrigation, and realize per mu yield of over 300 kilograms. The second step is to take another five years, to realize the industrialization of saline land improvement and increase one hundred million mu of farming land for China. They will end up supplying food for another 80 million people, by offering assistance to countries with less farming land resources, turning deserted lands into fertile ones and helping address the world’s food problems.
This article was first published in People’s Daily, China.
Translated by Wu Jinying
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