Well, hard work pays off as seawater grain produced from salt-affected soil! At present, more than 1,100 million hectares of soil are affected by salinity and sodicity (which degrades soil properties). Of this total, 60 percent of the soil is saline, 26 percent sodic, and the remaining 14 percent saline-sodic. China has 100 million hectares of salt-affected soil, about the size of Egypt, and one-third of this soil has the potential for agricultural activities. In order to solve this problem, China has made a lot of efforts.
In the past ten years from 2012 to 2022, seawater rice has been widely promoted in China, reaching a total of 400 square kilometers. At the end of 2022, the planting area of seawater rice in China has been expanded to nearly 670 square kilometers. However, some people think that this is a waste of effort, because the taste of the seawater rice is very unpalatable, even if it is planted, it will not be sold.
So, what exactly is seawater rice? Why does China grow such an unpalatable food on a large scale? Is it irrigated with seawater? OK, that and more is exactly what we are going to talk about, and let’s get started!