The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) released the “White Paper on Black Soil Region in Northeast China (2020)” in Harbin, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, on July 9. It is the first time that a white paper on black soil region has been released in China.

The white paper includes the research results of CAS on the protection and utilization of black soil in Northeast China for more than 40 years, as well as survey data from Chinese ministries, commissions and institutions and universities.

The white paper is comprised of the introduction of black soil, the types and formation process of different black soil, the changes of black soil and the reasons for these changes. It also puts forward the innovative work and research direction for the good use and conservation of black soil land in the future.

The total area of the black soil region in Northeast China is 1.09 million square kilometers, of which the typical black soil cultivated land area is 18.533 million hectares.

The black soil region in Northeast China is the most important region for commodity grain production in China, with the annual output of corn, rice and soybeans accounting for a high proportion and the amount of grain transferred reaching one third of the total amount of the country. Due to its vital role in grain production, the black soil region in Northeast China ensures the country’s food security.

However, several decades of overexploitation and unsustainable land use practices, as well as climate change, have caused substantial loss of soil and soil productivity, directly affecting the stability of food production in the region.

Technological innovation is believed to be the fundamental way to make good use of and conserve black soil. A scientific understanding of black soil region is highlighted as the precondition for technological innovation.

By releasing the white paper, we hope to help the whole society have a clear scientific understanding of black soil land, and promote joint efforts to protect and use the black soil region, said CAS.

We will work on providing scientific and technological support for the good use and conservation of black soil, and continue to publish the research progress on the protection and utilization of black soil land in Northeast China through the release of white papers.

Since its establishment, CAS has always attached importance to agricultural research, and has been conducting original innovation and research on key core technologies for the strategic and forward-looking issues of China’s agricultural development. It has made outstanding contributions to the development of agriculture in China.

A cooperation framework agreement on technological breakthroughs on the use and conservation of black soil land was also signed between CAS and Heilongjiang Province, on the same day as the release of the white paper.

According to the agreement, CAS cooperates with the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning, as well as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on major scientific and technological research tasks that provide systematic solutions for the protection and utilization of black soil land, in order to ensure national food security and ecological security.

The research tasks aim to solve the major issues that threaten China’s food and ecological security, such as serious black soil degradation and overdraft in Northeast China, by making full use of long-term science research results, technologies, and data.

To date, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has signed the framework agreements with the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning.

Source: Bureau of Science & Technology for Development,

and Bureau of Science Communication,

Chinese Academy of Sciences