The Sea Rice Research and Development Center reaches agreement with the government of Hanggin Banner to improve the local saline-alkaline soil and plant the sea rice widely in Hanggin Banner in Ordos, in Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on July 16. [Photo/ordosnews.com.cn]

A team from the Sea Rice Research and Development Center reached a landmark agricultural agreement with the government of Hanggin Banner in Ordos, in Inner Mongolia autonomous region on July 16.

The agreement aims to improve the local saline-alkaline soil and widely plant sea rice, a variety of salt-resistant hybrid rice, in Hanggin Banner. 

According to the government, the program is expected to promote the Hanggin Banner’s economy and explore a new way to develop agriculture in saline-alkaline areas. 

The team also investigated other areas of agricultural interest, including an experimental field for salt-resistant hybrid rice, examined saline-alkaline soil in Jiefang town, and went to visit the Kubuqi Desert Ecological Science and Technology Center. 

The Sea Rice Research and Development Center, founded in 2016, is a high-tech enterprise headed by Yuan Longping, a leading Chinese agriculturalist, and developed by Chinese tech giant Huawei to help expand the farming of salt-resistant hybrid rice.