Daishan county in Zhoushan transforms saline-alkaline land into high-yielding fields. [Photo/CCTV News]

Since 2017, Daishan county in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, has used the Daixi Town Huojian Salt Field as a testing ground on soil transformation, which can serve as an example for industrial agriculture.

By 2021, the county reclaimed and cultivated 4.67 square kilometers of land, with an additional 3.48 square kilometers of newly reclaimed arable land. It achieved effective improvements and high yields on saline-alkaline land with a salt content of over 1 percent.

The county has invited technical teams to conduct experiments on ways to improve the saline-alkaline soil. Through adding soil amendments, flushing the land with freshwater, digging deep salt trenches, and planting salt-tolerant crops, they successfully addressed the issue of accumulated salt in the topsoil.

Daishan county has promoted a crop rotation model of rice, fruits, and vegetables to increase yields. It has also introduced eco-friendly cultivating models like rice-shrimp, rice-crab, and rice-fish symbiosis systems to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

For instance, in 2023, the production value of rice-shrimp and rice-crab symbiosis systems was between 4,000 to 5,000 yuan ($552 to $690) per 667 square meters, nearly doubling the average income from pure rice and wheat cultivation.

Additionally, the county has used technologies like unmanned agricultural machinery to achieve real-time information of the fields, and has built a 167,000-square-meter smart greenhouse to enhance mechanical automation.