Oysters, crabs flourish in desert ponds

Salt to gold

In September this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued the national fisheries development plan for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30).

Under the plan, efforts will be made to strengthen work on saline-alkali-tolerant germplasm and the breeding of new varieties, intensify research on key technologies across the entire chain — including precise regulation of saline-alkali water quality and reducing salinity and treating alkalinity through aquaculture — and develop and promote differentiated technical models tailored to different regions and types of saline-alkali water and soil resources.

These measures are designed to improve saline-alkali water and soil resources, create new space for aquaculture, and promote a virtuous cycle between ecological restoration and industrial development.

This national direction is being put into practice at the local level. By 2025, the output of saline-alkali water products by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps exceeded 10,000 metric tons, achieving a production value of 200 million yuan, XPCC Daily reported.

Zhu said the seafood farming initiative in Xinjiang focuses on revitalizing underused resources across Aral, including idle saline-alkali land and saline drainage water from farmland.

"It turns the salinity and alkalinity that once constrained agricultural development into an advantage for aquaculture. It's a worthwhile exploration aimed at generating economic returns from saline-alkali land and building a desert blue granary," said Zhu.

Empowered by scientific special commissioners, Aral has overcome geographical constraints.

"Drawing on inland aquatic research expertise and mature aquaculture technologies, and through 'aqua-mimicry' water conditioning and seedling desalination and acclimation, we have made seafood farming a reality in the vast desert and Gobi areas far from the sea, extending science and technology aid to Xinjiang from traditional crop farming to specialty aquaculture and promoting technology exchange between China's eastern and western regions," Zhu added.

Fang Aiqing and Qian Suling contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at wangsongsong@chinadaily.com.cn