From a global perspective, Australia has carried out the treatment of saline-alkali land relatively early, and the relevant technology and experience are relatively advanced and rich.

Don't look at the impression that most people have in Australia, Australia is a developed agricultural and animal husbandry country. In fact, Australia is the continent with the lowest agricultural productivity in the world. Its soil infertility, plant growth rate and productivity are among the lowest in the world.

As we all know, in the vast majority of places in the world that gave birth to ancient civilizations, there is a regular rainy season every year that can help agriculture develop. Whether it is Europe, India or East Asia, whether it is rainy or hot at the same time, farmers can at least follow the seasonal rules to plow the land and sow seeds every year, so that the crops can grow and mature under the irrigation of rain.

However, in most parts of Australia, rainfall is affected by the Ensor phenomenon (El Niño and Southern Oscillation), which is low and irregular, making it difficult for agriculture to develop.

In fact, Australia's land seems to be vast, but it can't support too many people. Ostensibly because of the lack of water and the desert. But in fact, even in the water-rich south-eastern region of Australia, there is only a limit to the crops that can be grown because of the extremely poor soil.

The barren nature of Australia's soil is not easy to see at a glance, and the European colonists who first arrived in Australia were deceived by the illusion of endless forests and lush grasslands, and mistakenly believed that Australia was a land as rich as North America.

Tragically, it wasn't until the first trees were cut down and the grass was eaten up by the sheep that it was discovered that the trees and grasses in this place were growing very slowly, and those more delicate crops were almost impossible to grow in many places!

It's quite a pain.

Land degradation is Australia's biggest environmental problem today, and salinization is one of the most prominent of them.

The south-west has salt from the Indian Ocean that has been blown in for millions of years, the inland basins have lakes that have increased salinity after the evaporation of water, and when they dry up, the remaining salts are blown back to the eastern region, and the southeastern basins are often flooded by the sea because of their low terrain, leaving behind a large amount of salt when the water recedes...... It's a wordless sadness.

Nearly one-third of the continent is saline, making it one of the world's leading spenders in the world.

A few years ago, the Institute of Biology of the Academy of Sciences, where Dr. Li Weixin works, undertook a major international cooperation project of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and cooperated with Australia to build the "Sino-Australian Halophyte Demonstration Base" in Shandong Province.

At present, they have formed their own new varieties of salt-tolerant plants to screen, improve and cultivate technology, and more than 80 kinds of salt-tolerant plants are more mature, covering vegetables, flowers, shrubs, pastures, Chinese herbal medicines, spices and many other categories.

"We have planted 22 kinds of high-efficiency salt-tolerant plants at home and abroad selected in the winter camp experimental station, and then through other saline soil improvement technologies, we can improve the tidal flat with a salt content of 24‰ to less than 5‰, and both food crops and cash crops can be planted in the future. Li Weixin introduced.

He further said: "At present, we are intensively collecting, sorting and updating the existing salt-tolerant plant germplasm resource data, building the first salt-tolerant plant germplasm resource database in China, and also planning to use modern molecular biology technology to develop saline-alkali tolerant transgenic cash crops and improve the economic ......output of saline-alkali land."

Chen Jianzhang was impatient: "Okay, okay, don't brag about it, anyway, we are looking for you to cooperate, just because you can provide improved forage varieties, don't hide any good things, show it quickly." ”

Dr. Li Weixin smiled, it is rare to catch a big dog like Jiagu, and a trip can bring a lot of revenue to the test station, so he naturally does not hesitate to show all the good things in his hands.

"We have introduced forage resources from Australia and other countries, combined with yield, quality, salinity tolerance and other indicators for comprehensive evaluation, and bred alfalfa varieties 'Zhongmu No. 2', which solves the bottleneck of alfalfa planting seedlings on saline-alkali land, and you can introduce this varie......ty."

Qi Zheng nodded in agreement.

The use of vegetation to restore saline-alkali land has a long history in China, and in recent years, the planting of salt-tolerant plants has become one of the development trends of saline-alkali land treatment technology at home and abroad.

Saline-alkaline plants are generally divided into polyhalogen plants, haloline-secreting plants, and salt-repelling plants. According to incomplete statistics, halophyte resources in China are abundant, but most of them need to be exploited.

Li Weixin's team has achieved good results in the research of halophyte resources at home and abroad. Jiagu naturally wants to stand on the shoulders of giants to develop.

After talking about the pasture, Li Weixin seriously suggested: "This typhoon should remind everyone that it is best to set up arbor coastal defense forest belts in the saline-alkali land in the coastal area, mainly with shallow root trees that are resistant to salt and alkali, to form a seawall protection corridor, so that it has the ability to prevent wind, waves, and strong storms." ”

"In fact, the construction of coastal green space systems should first consider the construction of windbreaks, and the use of saline-tolerant tree species at the forest edge near the direction of tidal winds. ”

Everyone in Jiagu agreed.

Although the typhoon did not bring any damage, after all, the ranch is located on the seashore, and there is a high probability of being hit by typhoons every year, so it is an inevitable choice to build a coastal defense forest belt.

Qi Zheng asked, "So, what advice do you have for the tree species in the coastal defense forest belt?"

Dr. Li Weixin replied rigorously: "According to our experience, planting purple locust and strange willow is the most suitable. ”

He then introduced the two trees to the crowd.

Acacia is a deciduous shrub native to the United States and is also cultivated in various provinces in China.

The purple locust itself is not a halophyte, but it has the ability to block salt and has a strong ability to resist salinity. In coastal saline-alkali areas, Acacia purpurea can survive and grow normally in mild saline-alkali land.

Moreover, the purple locust is resistant to waterlogging and tsunami, and it is not only alkali-resistant, but also has the effect of improving saline-alkali land. Because of its wide root system, fast growth, root nodules, and strong soil modification effect, it is an excellent plant material for maintaining water and soil.

At the same time, Acacia purpurea has strong rainfall interception ability, fast growth, long growth period, dense branches and leaves, and strong wind resistance, which is the preferred tree species for the tight planting structure of the windbreak belt, which is very in line with the needs of Jiagu Ranch.

And the most important point is that the economic value of the purple locust is extremely high. Cultivating a purple locust forest can obtain a large amount of fertilizer, fodder, fuel and weaving raw materials. Because the purple locust is a kind of perennial excellent green manure, and can fix nitrogen, the leaves are large and nutritious, containing a lot of crude protein, vitamins, etc., is a good forage plant.

All in all, it's an unmissable choice.

Tamarix also has outstanding advantages.

As a native tree, the willow is a salt-secreting plant suitable for growing in saline-alkali land.

Just like the stoic character of the Chinese people, the strange willow has a strong vitality and is resistant to drought, moisture and salinity. It can grow tenaciously in harsh environments such as deserts, river beaches or saline-alkali lands, and is one of the excellent tree species that can best adapt to the survival of arid deserts and coastal saline soils, prevent wind and fix sand, transform saline-alkali land, and green environment.

As a coastal windbreak, even in the event of a tsunami, the tamarix will not be damaged even if it is soaked in seawater for 10 days, and the age of the tree can reach more than 100 years.

And it is also full of treasures, which can not only improve the soil, but also use medicine and green mountains and forests......

After listening to the explanation, Qi Zheng immediately made a decision and said: "Then choose the strange willow and the purple locust, create a coastal defense forest in the pasture, and build our coastal green Great Wall......"