Reviving “Incurable” Lands?
China’s Dual Soil Revolutions Offer Global Lessons for Food Security
Preface: I have, and continue to, take a strong interest in food systems and agricultural technologies and science developments. This professional interest derives from ongoing involvement in various agricultural systems projects across a number of continents (eg., the Nigerian shea butter sector, discussed previously) built on the back of work in red meat industry supply chains and a host of agtech-related initiatives, as well as past involvement with the Future Food Systems and the Food Agility Cooperative Research Centres in Australia. Having presented papers at a number of agricultural, food systems and agtech conferences in China over the years, how China is addressing challenges of food security and ecological rejuvenation — after decades of degradation of soils and water tables etc. — remains an abiding interest. There are lessons and opportunities for people across the globe from these initiatives.
Recently, I came across a couple of news stories on projects that tackle salinity and black soil rejuvenation that piqued my curiosity. This essay is a short reflection catalysed by these.
I must thank Australian soil engineer Cameron Leckie for casting his eyes over the essay; needless to say, any errors or omissions are mine. Cameron’s recent essays on food systems viability are a must read - Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here.
Saline-alkaline soils have long been called the “incurable disease” of arable land. High salt content stunts plant growth, reduces nutrient uptake, and leads to low or zero yields, rendering vast tracts seemingly barren. In Cangzhou, Hebei Province, coastal saline lands epitomized this challenge for decades. Meanwhile, China’s northeastern black soils — the “panda of arable land” — faced their own crisis: gradual degradation from intensive farming, thinning layers, declining organic matter, and erosion, threatening the region’s status as a quarter of China’s grain output.
Recent breakthroughs in both regions demonstrate that these problems are not incurable. Through targeted breeding, technological innovation, and integrated value chains, China is transforming degraded lands into productive assets. These initiatives not only bolster domestic food security but offer adaptable models for global challenges like soil salinization, degradation, and climate-induced stress.
Cangzhou’s Saline-Alkali Wheat Revolution
Cangzhou, bordering the Bohai Sea, contends with extensive saline-alkaline soils where traditional crops struggled. Historical accounts describe “白茫茫” (bai mangmang or vast white expanses) in spring and waterlogged fields in summer, with yields so poor that land often lay fallow.
In recent years, the city has turned this around by prioritizing high salinity- and alkalinity-tolerant wheat varieties. Scientists at institutions like the Cangzhou Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences and the Hebei Key Laboratory of Drought-Alkali Tolerance in Wheat have screened and bred varieties such as Cangmai6005 (CM6005), Jie Mai 19, Jie Mai 20, Xiaoyan series, and others. These varieties excel in germination, seedling vigor, and full-cycle performance under salt stress, often outperforming standard lines in artificial salt ponds and field trials.
Complementary agronomic advances include “six-step” high-yield cultivation techniques, deep tillage, organic amendments, precision fertilization, rain-fed dry farming methods, and soil improvement via drainage and biological agents. These practices enhance soil structure, reduce salt accumulation, and improve water retention.
The results are striking. By 2025, Cangzhou’s dryland salt-tolerant wheat (drought-alkali wheat or “han jian mai”) planting area reached around 1.85–2.06 million mu (approximately 123,000–137,000 hectares), with average yields hitting 289.5 kg/mu and total output of 530.6k tonnes — record highs. This represents a dramatic leap from earlier low-yield eras.
Beyond yields, Cangzhou has built a comprehensive industrial chain: breeding, standardized planting, deep processing, branding, and marketing. Processing enterprises (19+ leading firms with over 1 million tons annual capacity) transform wheat into flour, steamed buns, decorative pastries (“mian hua”), noodles, beer, and high-fiber products. Brands like “Huanghua Drought-Alkali Wheat” have gained national recognition, with green certifications and expanded markets. Full-chain value reached billions of yuan, boosting farmer incomes and local economies.
Platforms like the National Saline-Alkali Land Comprehensive Utilization Technology Innovation Center support ongoing R&D, while infrastructure investments (drainage, high-standard fields) scale improvements. Cangzhou’s success shows saline lands can become “golden” through variety + technology + industry integration.
The Black Soil Granary Campaign
Northeastern China’s black soils are among the world’s most fertile, but decades of monoculture, heavy tillage, and erosion have caused them to “thin, thin out, and harden.” Organic matter declines, compaction increases, and gullies form. In 2021, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), with northeastern provinces and Inner Mongolia, launched the “Black Soil Granary” Technological Campaign — a major strategic priority program involving 98+ units.
After five years, achievements include seven core demonstration zones spanning ~12,900 hectares, with region-specific models (e.g., Hailun for thick-layer conservation, Da’an for saline-alkali reclamation, Dahewan for smart machinery). Key metrics: soil organic matter increased 0.25–0.7%, erosion reduced by 80%, and grain yields boosted >5.2%. Technologies have scaled to much larger areas.
A landmark output is the first 10-meter spatial resolution map of soil organic matter across 1.09 million km², integrating satellite, aerial, and ground data (see Xue J., et al 2025 and Hengl T., et al 2026) . This “one map” enables precise degradation assessment, dynamic monitoring, and tailored interventions — replacing experience-based management with data-driven precision.
Other innovations: dual-source carbon sequestration mechanisms supporting conservation tillage; erosion control and gully rehabilitation (over 10,000 gullies addressed); soil health technologies using straw, organics, and microbes; new tolerant crop varieties; and smart machinery, including 375 units which includes 140 soil-testing robots and unmanned vehicles. AI-integrated systems facilitate real-time decisions.
Models like the “Lishu Model 2.0” and others integrate tillage, straw return, livestock-crop systems, and precision practices, demonstrating scalable conservation that maintains or boosts productivity.
Global Implications and Applications
These initiatives address universal soil challenges. Salinization affects over 1 billion hectares worldwide, exacerbated by irrigation, sea-level rise, and climate change—hitting arid/semi-arid regions in India, Australia, the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa particularly hard. Black/fertile soil degradation is widespread due to intensive agriculture.
The approaches could be adapted into varying contexts.
For starters, we could look at how they could contribute to improved breeding and genetics. Salt-tolerant wheat germplasm and screening protocols from Cangzhou can accelerate breeding programs elsewhere. Marker-assisted selection and transcriptomic insights (e.g., comparing tolerant vs. sensitive varieties) speed development of resilient crops for wheat, rice, maize, or local staples.
We could also see how these methods could be integrated into soil management. Techniques like deep tillage, organic amendments, drainage, and biological desalination apply broadly. Conservation tillage and straw return from the Black Soil program combat erosion and build organic matter in degraded temperate or subtropical soils.
There’s always room for precision- and smart-technologies. The 10m resolution mapping and smart machinery (robots, AI decision systems) offer blueprints for digital agriculture in data-scarce regions. Low-cost adaptations of sensing and robotics could democratize precision farming for smallholders.
And of course, we could extend the window to value chain development. Moving from raw production to processed, branded products creates economic incentives. Cangzhou’s model —linking farmers, processors, and markets — enhances resilience and rural development, replicable in saline-prone developing countries.
Globally, these could contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals on zero hunger, climate action, and land degradation neutrality. International collaboration (e.g., via FAO, CGIAR) could transfer germplasm, mapping tech, and models. Challenges like initial investment, local adaptation, and knowledge sharing remain, but China’s scale demonstrates feasibility.
Opportunities for Australia?
In the latest State of the Environment Report (Australia state of the environment 2021) Australia’s soil was described as being in “poor condition and deteriorating.” With old, highly weathered and relatively infertile soils across much of the continent, Australia faces a range of soil challenges. These include the ubiquitous erosion, loss of soil organic matter and nutrient depletion, soil structural decline, acidification and widespread dispersive soils.
Dispersive soils alone, common in the northern grain growing regions of New South Wales and Queensland, are estimated to incur production losses in the order of a billion dollars per year, according to the Grains Research and Development Corporation cost (Dispersive soil manual - GRDC).
Whilst decades of investment in soil research and development has led to marked improvements in soil management (e.g Controlled Traffic Farming that reduces soil compaction and conservation tillage that has significantly reduced erosion), the fact remains that the condition of Australia’s soil continues to deteriorate.
Australia does have a National Soil Strategy (National Soil Strategy - DAFF) but there is a fundamental mismatch between the level of investment required versus the need as demonstrated by the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists in their (Blueprint to Repair Australia’s Landscapes). The Blueprint argued that there is an annual need for an additional $774 million in soil remediation and advisory services. Every year. For 30 years. Coupled with the inadequate investment are serious concerns about the sustainability of the soil science workforce (Identifying Work Needed to Build Soil Workforce and Improve Soil Management | UniSQ), the size and capacity of which has been declining for decades with no signs, yet, of a turnaround.
On current trends, Australia will struggle to first stabilise, and secondly improve the condition of its soil. This will have a range of detrimental economic, social and environmental impacts.
With China facing many of the same soil challenges as Australia, there are clearly opportunities for collaboration which could be leveraged for the benefit of both countries. For example, China’s Black Soil Granary program could be leveraged to address the challenges that Australia’s faces in some of its most productive cropping soils, the black soils of the northern plains of New South Wales and Darling Downs in Queensland.
Towards a Model for Sustainable Abundance
China’s efforts in Cangzhou and the Black Soil region at the very least challenge the notion of “incurable” soils. By combining biological innovation, agronomic precision, engineering and economic integration, they reclaim land, raise yields, protect ecosystems and build resilient food systems.
As climate pressures intensify and arable land shrinks, these successes provide hope and practical tools. Policymakers, scientists and farmers worldwide should study, adapt, and collaborate on them. Turning degraded “wastelands” into granaries is not just possible — it is a strategic imperative for feeding a growing population on a finite planet. The “incurable disease” is — perhaps — yielding to science, ingenuity and determination.
Thank you, Prof. Powell, for addressing this most important issue. Soil loss, erosion and degradation affect the entire world. Original soil horizons are diminished or lost, erosion, compaction, salt buildup from drying of irrigation water, loss of deep-rooted plants, etc. An important adjunct is groundwater depletion, a major concern in India and USA and many other places. All the while, there are more people to feed!
China’s recent agricultural successes show how open frameworks act as powerful coordination instruments under stress. Juncao, saline‑alkali wheat in Cangzhou, and the Black Soil Granary campaign all function as shared technical templates. That common “operating layer” is what allows knowledge system execution agencies and value chains to move in sync, rather than as fragmented projects. An open source approach!