Demonstration area aims to boost crop yields on saline-alkaline soils

Researchers pack seeds at the quinoa germplasm resource bank in the demonstration zone in Dongying. Li Yiqiang, an official with the Tobacco Research Institute at CAAS, said their marine agriculture center has discovered tobacco plants with outstanding tolerance of saline. Since the center was established in 2015 to study special plants' adaptation to saline-alkaline soils and the comprehensive use and improvement of such land, it has assessed the saline tolerance of nearly 100 plant species, including tobacco. "It turns out that tobacco is one of the few plant species that can be cultivated in severely saline soil," Li Yiqiang said, adding that most varieties can tolerate soil with a salt content of about nine parts per 1,000. This year, the center tried for the first time to conduct large-scale experiments of planting different varieties of tobacco on saline-alkaline land and also explored multiple uses of the crop.