Siping leads in black soil preservation

Through pioneering technologies and protective legislation, Siping, a city in Jilin province, has made significant strides in black soil preservation.

Located in the core of Northeast China's black soil region — one of the world's foremost black soil zones and one of the three golden corn belts — Siping is recognized as China's sole "capital of high-quality corn" and one of the "three major granaries in Northeast China".

In line with the spirit of the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the fifth plenary session of the 12th CPC Jilin Provincial Committee, Siping aims to achieve an economic output of 100 billion yuan ($13.8 billion) by strengthening eight key industries, including modern agriculture, green energy and new materials, said Wang Xiangmin, the city's Party secretary.

"We will implement eight major initiatives, such as project tackling, industry upgrading and rural revitalization, to accelerate high-quality development and achieve breakthroughs in comprehensive revitalization," Wang said.

Siping is committed to safeguarding its rich and fertile black soil, which spans over 600,000 hectares — 9.38 percent of Jilin province's total. Wang emphasized that black soil protection is essential to ensuring national food security.

To combat declining soil fertility, the city adopted the "Lishu Model", which involves returning maize straw to farmland as mulch. This method has proven effective in improving black soil quality in Lishu county.

"We have continuously refined the Lishu Model and developed versions suitable for various terrains, such as mountainous, hilly, low-lying and medium-low-yield fields," Wang said.

"Siping also became the first city in the province to legislate for black soil protection and launch a technology campaign for its preservation."

To share its experience, Siping has established 100 experimental demonstration bases in Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang provinces, and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. These efforts have extended protective tillage practices to 5.33 million hectares.

"We are also promoting this model beyond Northeast China to regions like Xinjiang, Gansu and Ningxia, as well as countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, including Tanzania," Wang said. "We hope to contribute the 'China Model', 'Jilin Wisdom' and 'Siping Experience' to the world."