Explainer | China vaults salt with saline-tolerant crops, increasing yields and advancing food security goals

China is grappling with the impacts of extreme weather events and unpredictable grain prices. These challenges have prompted Beijing to intensify its efforts to ensure food security. The country is exploring various strategies to increase crop yields and enhance farming efficiency. One such strategy involves cultivating crops in saline-alkaline soils, which are typically unsuitable for farming due to their high salt and mineral content. Despite the challenges, China's efforts have been successful so far, with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announcing that the country's grain output in 2023 was the largest in history.

Saline-alkaline land refers to soil that contains an excess of soluble salts and exchangeable sodium, making it difficult to farm. China has the world's third-largest surface area of saline-alkaline land, with about one-third of it potentially usable for farming. This land is distributed across 19 provinces, spanning China's southeastern coast and the arid regions in the north and northwest. The cultivation of saline and alkaline soils is one of the many strategies Beijing has identified to bolster its domestic food supply. Other strategies include the strict protection of arable land, building high-standard land, amending and drafting laws on food security, and improving per-unit yield through mechanisation and new technologies.

China has made significant strides in turning seemingly toxic stretches of land into workable farming ground. This achievement demonstrates China's ability to overcome limitations on its natural resources and expand its agricultural production. President Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasised the importance of the Chinese people maintaining control over their food supply, acknowledging that protecting farms has become increasingly difficult. He has also highlighted the potential of saline-alkaline soil on multiple occasions. China has employed several approaches to make saline-alkaline land more fertile, including ameliorating mineral content and developing more tolerant crops.