Innovation boosts grain output, protects black soil in NE China

Under the guidance of Chen Yong, a professor at the College of Land Science and Technology at China Agricultural University, farmers in Jucheng village of Zhaodong, Heilongjiang province, have adopted an integrated planting model combining wide-ridge, double-row cultivation with water and fertilizer management, as well as intercropping corn and wheat.

Under the model, two wide ridges of corn are planted along the two sides of a 1.3-meter-wide production unit, while wheat is planted in the middle, where corn would traditionally have been grown.

"Because wheat is shorter than corn, the fields have better ventilation and light penetration, allowing corn yields to remain largely unchanged compared with conventional planting. As a result, farmers can harvest an additional crop of wheat apart from corn," Chen said.

Liu Tangsheng, Party secretary of Jucheng village, said that since the two crops are planted and harvested at different times, competition for water, fertilizer and sunlight during key growth stages can be avoided by selecting suitable varieties and setting appropriate planting densities.

A trial planting on 400 mu, or 26.67 hectares, was conducted last year, increasing farmers' net income by 270 yuan ($40) per mu. The planting area has been expanded this year, with the additional net income expected to reach 350 yuan per mu, Liu said.

Because wheat is planted relatively early, Chen's team is also experimenting with planting a crop of soybeans after the wheat harvest, with the aim of achieving three harvests from the same plot of land in a single year.

As for straw management, Chen has led local farmers to fully shred and return corn straw to the soil, particularly in densely planted corn fields. They are also making every effort to return the large volume of wheat straw to the soil.

"In this way, we are also exploring a comprehensive approach to soil conservation, with the ultimate goal of achieving coordinated improvements in both productivity and land quality," Chen said.

The experimental station of China Agricultural University in Zhaodong was established in 2022, and Chen is currently serving as its director. The station focuses primarily on technologies related to the protection of black soil and increasing corn yields per unit of land, as it seeks to achieve coordinated improvements in both productivity and land quality. At the same time, it is also developing technologies for intelligent analysis and decision-making using artificial intelligence large language models, Chen said.

At the experimental station, the corn yield per mu in 2025 reached 1,044.1 kilograms, after adjusting the yield from the station's demonstration fields to a standard moisture content of 14 percent.

Liu Wei, deputy director of the Heilongjiang Development and Reform Commission, said at a news conference in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang, on Monday that the province remains committed to developing high-standard farmland.

Since the beginning of China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), Heilongjiang has implemented black soil conservation and high-standard farmland projects covering 51.35 million mu. By the end of 2025, a total of 125 million mu of high-standard farmland had been developed across the province, steadily improving the overall productive capacity of its black soil, Liu Wei said.

Using the experimental station as a hub, China Agricultural University has extended its work to surrounding areas and established numerous "science and technology backyards", with the aim of bridging the last mile in the application of agricultural science and technology.

The "science and technology backyard" program was initially established as an educational model to train graduate students. The university requires graduate students to spend more than 100 days each year living and working at a science and technology backyard, and to keep daily logs.

Faculty members found that students sometimes lacked basic knowledge of farming and they believed that working in the fields would enable the students to gain practical knowledge.

Over time, some students' interactions with farmers also prompted professors to become more involved. When students asked their professors why farmers were encountering a particular problem, some questions sparked the professors' curiosity about what was happening. Professors and students would then work together to investigate the issue. As a result, the "science and technology backyard" model gradually expanded, Chen said.

In addition, China Agricultural University has built an integrated model of cooperation spanning scientific research, demonstration, commercialization of research findings and branding, and is exploring a replicable and scalable approach to achieving coordinated improvements in the productivity and quality of black soil, he said.

jiangxueqing@chinadaily.com.cn